


Corrupted!

by Typically_Atypical



Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Corrupted Steven Universe, Corruption, F/F, Gen, Steven Universe - Freeform, Steven gets angry, that boy needs therapy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 13:08:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21162155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Typically_Atypical/pseuds/Typically_Atypical
Summary: Change isn’t always a good thing. Steven wanted to make a change but he didn’t want to make a change to his appearance. He didn’t want to have these scales on his skin, these fangs in his mouth, these horns on his head.He didn’t want to have the desire to kill.“Guys I’m fine!Now the ones that he saved in the past have to save him.“Let’s return the favor. Together.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! If you don’t remember me, I made Imagination’s Abominations. After getting back into Steven Universe, I decided that I wanted to make a story.  
NOTICE: I don’t exactly believe in the corrupted Steven theory, I just thought it would’ve been interesting to write.

Corrupted!  
Chapter 1:  
There they were in the future. Everything looked bright. There wasn’t anything to fear, and nothing to be fought. Steven Quartz Universe couldn’t believe that they’ve all come so far.

They’ve been through so much from being almost turned into a ball of cats to gigantic women made of light trying to destroy their planet. Just recently, one of the many people that was abandoned Pink Diamond came to Earth to destroy it. All to get her anger out on a bunch of strangers.

But all of that has been resolved and taken care of. The Earth’s beauty was restored, Little Homeworld’s construction was almost finished, and Beach City was thriving.

And Steven finally felt happy and content. He couldn’t feel happier. The young boy couldn’t stop smiling as he drove through the town.

Oh, yeah he was finally 16!

At first, studying for his permit test and learning to drive was a little challenging since he had to juggle that and being Earth’s space ambassador. Plus the whole thing with Spinel trying to destroy the planet also got in the way but, hey, it all worked out!

Spinel...wonder how she was doing with the Diamonds. They were probably smothering her to death up there in Homeworld. Steven chuckled at the thought of the three huge women all trying to snuggle the small pink gem, who was trying to get away.

Steven made a mental note to call the Diamonds when he gets home.

“Alright, Amethyst, lets go grab some donuts. I’m sure that some of the gems at Little Homeworld would love to try some as they work,” Steven told the purple gem in the passenger seat, who gave a whoop and punched her fist in the air.

“I call dibs on the dog-nut!” She said with stars in her eyes.

Steven chuckled and rolled his eyes.

“Yea as long as you don’t eat the rest of the donuts on the way there.”

Amethyst gasped and lightly punched Steven’s arm.

“Hey! When have I ever done that?” She then paused for a moment but then started to giggle as a realization struck her. “Oh wait I’ve done that a lot. HA! No promises, dude, you know I love me some BD’s.”

She reached out to the car’s stereo system and turned on the radio. The first song that started to play out of the speakers had a funky beat to it. For the first minute, it was some man rapping about his time in LA.

As Amethyst listened, she realized that this was no ordinary song. Her mouth opened wide and excitement filled her up.

“Oh my gosh it’s this song! Yessss!!!” As soon as she started to hear her favorite part of the song, she turned up the volume and rolled down the windows.

The song’s singer changed from a man to a very familiar voice. Steven couldn’t believe his ears. He completely forgot about this song.

“Oh no...” Steven thought. “Not again!”  
It was Pearl’s voice.

“_Round and round, let the city turn, party in the hills, we can party in the burbs. Roof on fire, let it burn! Champagne in my hand, I’m not concerned_!” Said Pearl in the song.

Amethyst started to laugh hysterically, her hands holding her stomach from bursting. Tears almost started to form in her eyes.

“Man! I totally forgot Pearl was in a group. You’d never expect that to happen! Oh I gotta tell her that we heard it on the radio!” She laughed.

Steven quickly turned the radio down as he realized it was bit too loud and people were starting to turn their heads as the car rolled by. There was no need to cause a raucous today.

“Amethyst, I don’t think she really needs a reminder of that part of her past....again. You remember last time that happened,” he said, the last words sent a chill up his spine. Again, no more raucouses...raucousi? He didn’t know the plural form of that word.

“But that was so much fun! I’m not _concerned_.”

“No it wasn’t.”

The Big Donut finally came into view and Steven pulled the car into a proper parking spot, then turning it off like he was taught to.

He stepped out of the car with his keys in hand and shut the door. His flip flops slapped as he walked towards the front door of the store, Amethyst following suit.

The moment that the pair walked in the door, the smell of freshly made donuts hit their noses, causing Amethyst to salivate a little. A couple of other patrons stood in line in front of them, waiting to get their order of donuts.

Ex mayor Dewey was behind the counter, tending to every customer with a smile on his face.

“Alrighty then! Enjoy your Breakup donut deal!” He said to a woman, who was crying her eyes out. She tried to smile to him as she turned around and started to walk out.

“Have a Dewey day!” Dewey called after her, thinking that saying that would hopefully brighten the woman’s day. Then he sighed heavily and placed an elbow on the counter. “Next please.”

Steven and a Amethyst stepped up to the counter and put on smirks.

“Hey there, Dewey. How’s business been for ya? Have ya been...racking up the dough?” Steven said, snickering as he finished his pun. Amethyst slightly smirked, secretly disguising that she thought that even she could make a better pun than that.

Dewey wasn’t impressed either, he sighed heavily again.

“Uhh yea, Universe, business has been great here. I do miss being mayor but as long as I get to see the citizens’ smiling faces, I won’t complain,” he said, getting a box ready for Steven’s order. “What’ll it be for you today?”

Steven looked over at the selection of donuts in the glass case next to him. There were so many options! How could he only pick just 12? He put a hand under his chin and stoked an imaginary beard.

After about a few more seconds of deciding and Dewey checking his watch constantly, Steven finally made up his mind.

“We’ll get 4 vanilla with sprinkles, 3 glazed, 2 creme filled, and 3 chocolate please!” He said with a smile.

Amethyst slammed her hands on the counter and almost hoisted herself up.

“And don’t forget my dog-nut! You better not, Dewey...” her tone grew darker at her lost words, making Dewey quickly grab one of the dognuts already freshly made.

The man packed the box with all of the donuts requested, then placed the dognut in a paper bag for Amethyst. He went to the cash register to ring Steven’s order up.

“Okay so that’s gonna be... $15. Want anything else, Universe, or are ya just gonna stay here and tell more awful puns?” Dewey asked.

Steven smiled and answered as he fished in his pocket for his cash.

“I totally would do that buuuut Amethyst and I were gonna run these over to Little Homeworld real quick.”

“Wait don’t gems not have the need to eat? Why would you waste these donuts if nobody’s gonna eat ‘em?”

Amethyst rolled her eyes. Pfff typical.

“No, dude, you got it all wrong. Gems don’t have to eat but that doesn’t stop me from eating this delicious dognut. I just shapeshifted myself a digestive system, hopefully the other gems would do the same.”

She snatched the bag from Dewey and instantly popped the dognut into her mouth, chewing noisily and messily.

The man put on a disgusted face as he watched the purple gem eat the treat with crumbs falling out of her mouth. He looked behind the two and saw that some other customers were still waiting in line. He had to hurry this up.

“Okay thank you for the info..and the demonstration. If you two don’t mind, I have to tend to more of my lovely citizens,” he said, shoving the donut box into Steven’s chest and snatched the cash. “Have a Dewey Day, yada yada.”

Steven, staying the nice boy he always was, smiled back at him. He turned his heel and started to walk out of the store.

“Thanks, Dewey! Keep up the good work! You donut wanna stop!” He said with a laugh, which then made Amethyst groan.

“Geez dude, can it with the puns, will ya?” She said as she opened the car door and plopped herself down on the seat.

“Sorry, Amethyst, I donut think I can stop!” Steven laughed and then started the car. Amethyst’s eyes went wide and reached for the door again to let herself out.

“Lemme outta here! Who made this kid so happy!” She tried to get out but suddenly heard the click of the door locking. She sighed in defeat. “Curse you safety..”

Steven started to laugh again. He wasn’t sure why he was so happy but hopefully there wouldn’t be anything to ruin his good mood.

“Okay okay I’m done for real this time. Let’s go to Little Homeworld now.”

The two headed on their way to the place where new gems called home. They sat in silence as they listened to the radio and felt the breeze in their hair from the windows being down. Driving felt great.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Amethyst provide treats for the gems, not realizing that it was Little Homeworld’s grand opening. To celebrate for the festivities, Bismuth has the bright idea to hold a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It feels soooo good to be writing again. If you guys didn’t remember, I was writing Imagination’s Abominations when I was either a senior or junior in high school. Now I’m a freshman in college! Crazy right? I hope that this story works out, I really like the theory of Steven becoming corrupted but I don’t officially support it. It sounds like a good story.

Corrupted!

Chapter 2:

The car rolls up to a small town with stone walls built around for protection. 

Houses of various shapes, colors and sizes are contained within the walls. Other buildings stood in place, including the largest one which had huge propellers on the top, most likely used for wind power. 

This town was known as Little Homeworld, a place for gems to stay on earth and for humans to learn about gem culture. It was welcome for anyone (except if they were coming to kill Steven) to marvel at its beauty. It’s location was just southwest from Beach City. 

Before he could pull into the front gate, Steven notices that there is a large crowd of gems with a mix of humans in front of it and blocking the way in. 

“Huh. Wonder what’s going on,” he thinks out loud. “Amethyst grab the donuts.”

He decides to drive off to the side in the grass and parks his car. The boy stepped out, slams the door and runs over to the crowd. Amethyst follows behind him with the donut box in hand.

The gems and humans around him appear to be excited about something, all chattering to each other. Steven and Amethyst make their way through the crowd up to the front where Bismuth, Lapis and Peridot stood.

Peridot was levitating a large pair of scissors with her ferrokinesis powers in front of a red ribbon that blocked the entrance to the town. She notices the pair coming towards them and becomes excited. 

“Well well look who it is! It’s about time you showed up. We were just about to have the grand opening Little Homeworld!” Peridot said, showing her large scissors. 

Steven stood silent for a moment but then came to realization, slapping his forehead. 

“Ohh right sorry, Peri, I totally forgot that was today. Heh, my mistake,” he chuckled. 

Bismuth stepped forward with her hands on her hips, looking proud and ecstatic.

“Okay! Before Peridot can make one more remark, let’s get this place opened!” She said, her arms spreading out towards the crowd. The group of gems and people all shouted with excitement. 

Peridot made her way towards the red ribbon in front of the gate with her scissors floating above her hand. She controlled the metal instrument to open its blades just an inch above the ribbon, pausing for dramatic effect. 

“Humans and gems, Little Homeworld is now officially....” The scissors snipped the ribbon, the red silk falling into two pieces. “Open!” 

The moment the word “open” was said, all of the gems and humans immediately rushed forward to the front gate with excited hoots and hollers. They were so excited and were so many that they didn’t realize Peridot was still standing at the front with her scissors. 

The small green gem shrieked as she had no where to run. She was pushed to the ground and it seemed like thousands of feet stampeded over her. 

The dust and stomping of feet settled, leaving a green and flattened Peridot on the ground. Her facial expression was not very pleased. 

Steven and the other three gems stepped up to the green pancake of annoyance. He reached a hand out for Peridot to hoist herself up. 

“Wow didn’t expect there to be so much excitement. You okay, Peridot?” He asked as he helped her up. 

Peridot brushed herself off from the dirt and scuff marks, then straightened her star shaped visor. She throws her hands up in anger and shouts,

“Well I’m just dandy, Steven! After being used like a doormat, I feel great!” She stormed into the front gate, stomping her little feet and grumbled to herself. 

The others looked at each other to see if anyone else knew what was going on but erupted into laughter.

“Sometimes I wonder if Peridot really was a certified kindergartner,” Bismuth said, shaking her head. 

“Well on earth, I’m sure the name kindergartner still suits her quite well,” Steven said, thinking about Earth’s education system. Wait did he ever go to school like Connie? Whatever. 

They all laughed again together and all filed inside Little Homeworld’s stone walls. Once Steven and Amethyst took one step in, they were immediately greeted by the awesome sight of the new town. 

There were houses of all sizes and colors for gems down streets. Each one looked unique and most likely complimented that specific gem’s appearance. 

A big green clock tower stood tall on the other side of town. There was also the big large star in the ground with a warp pad. 

The most impressive thing was the largest building of all: the one with the strange propellers on top. Now that there were no giant pizza cutters to destroy Bismuth’s scaffolding, it stood proudly in all its glory. 

The whole town seemed to be shining with pride.

Some humans stood with their alien friends with smiles on their faces, already getting along. Other gems walked around, marveling in the sight of their newly built town. 

Everything looked almost as if it wasn’t almost destroyed a few months ago by unnecessary means. Every gem played their part and helped out, making the result glorious. 

Steven looked over at Bismuth, who was a bit quiet for a while. She looked lost in thought. 

“Hey Bis, you good?” The boy asked her.

Steven’s words seemed to have snapped the rainbow haired gem out of her trance and she looked back over. She realized she had gone quiet and smiled, then sighed.

“Yeah I’m good. It’s just so crazy how this all used to be that barn Peridot and Lapis lived in. Used to be only 80 something percent finished but now look at it!” She smiled as she looked around the town. “We got houses and everything for everyone to be happy...to feel like they belong here.”

Steven could tell that she was very prideful. It was her that was the most motivated to build this town. He put a hand on her shoulder in support. She looked back at him and slung her arm over his shoulder. He used to be so small but now she could properly reach him. 

“You did good, Bis, you did real good,” Steven said, patting the large gem’s back. 

Beside them, Lapis, Peridot and Amethyst stood with unimpressed facial expressions. 

“If you guys start singing, fine by me. But if ya don’t mind, I’m gonna dig into these donuts,” Amethyst said, still holding the donut box and opening the lid. 

Steven took his eyes off of the sight of Little Homeworld and looked back at Amethyst. Oh crap he forgot that they brought those! He stepped out from Bismuth’s hold and quickly snatched the donut box before Amethyst could snag a treat. 

“Hey! These aren’t just for you, remember?” He reprimanded her. As a reply, the purple gem stuck her tongue out at him. 

Steven held the box with one hand and cupped his other by his mouth to amplify his voice. 

“If anyone wants to try a donut, please come over here!” He shouted to any passing by gem or human. A couple of quartz’s walking by heard his announcement and quickly ran over to him.

“I don’t know what these are but I want one!” One quartz, Biggs Jasper, shouted excitedly and grabbed a chocolate donut from the box. The other reached her hand out for a glazed. They both said thank you to Steven and happily ran off in another direction with their donuts. 

Steven was glad that there were now gems living on Earth in peace. They could learn about culture here and then they could also teach humans about theirs. It was almost as if they were from another country and both had to teach customs. 

He was also glad that he was part of a huge change in both human and gem history. Humans could live without fearing of alien life forms and gems could live without being in constant battle. 

The boy decided that he deserved to have a donut in celebration of his good deeds and grabbed a pink frosted one. It looked like his organic jacket. 

He took a bite out of it and sighed as his taste buds took a trip of deliciousness.  Ahh.  He thought to himself.  Big Donut sure knows how to make a boy happy.

As he was chewing, he started to wonder what else his day was going to look like. _Will he go say hi to Connie? Will he hang with his dad at the car wash?_ _Will he have to prove that his dead mother was wrong with her actions to a gem about to kill him_? Hopefully that last one won’t happen any time soon. 

Maybe he could ask what Bismuth, Peridot or Lapis was doing later.

“Soo..what’s everyone doing later? Does anyone wanna go to Funland with me?” He asked the others. 

Bismuth just finished talking to another gem walking by when she heard Steven’s question. It took her a few seconds to process it and then her face lit up with excitement.

“Oh waitta minute! I almost forgot to tell you, Steven!” She said. “Tonight, there’s gonna be a whole party here for Little Homeworld’s opening! We were gonna try to ask Sadie Killer to perform buuut..a little birdie aka Pearl told me that you were starting to make your own music! Maybe you could be the provider of entertainment!” 

Both Lapis and Amethyst looked at Steven in shock, who had a mixture of embarrassment and confusion written all over his face. 

“You write your own music?! Steven! Why didn’t you ever tell us?” Amethyst said, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. “You could be a total rockstar!” 

Steven put a hand on Amethyst to get her to stop shaking him, the room was starting to spin. After he got his eyes to settle, he tried to get his thoughts in order.

Play his music? In front of people? Sure he fused with his dad on stage, but that was only to get Pearl’s memories back. Sure he saved Sadie from stage fright, but that was out of kindness and his usual Steven compassion ™️ . 

“Uhh I’m not so sure about that, guys. My music is...a bit different.” Steven said, scratching his neck. 

_I wrote those songs when I was stressed about my life, who knows what angsty lyrics were written? I don’t want these guys’ perspective of me to change. _

He looked at Bismuth. The rainbow haired gem looked back at him with the most hopeful and adorable expression. It was almost as if she was a small child begging to have candy. 

_C’mon, Universe. You saved the goddamn..universe. You can show these guys what your music is like. They’ll still love you even if your lyrics may have a few swears and feelings. _

I_f they were in your shoes, they’d do it for you. And they’d do it again. You do it for them, that is to say, you do it for them. _

Steven took another moment to decide, took a deep breath in and let it out.

“Alright. I’ll do it!” He said. Bismuth’s whole face lit up and she instantly grabbed the teenager with her strong arms and lift him off the ground in a tight hug. 

“Oh yea! Thank you Steven! Trust me, once those gems see you showin off with your voice,they won’t know what to expect!” She said. 

Steven was happy to help but would be even happier if he was let go. He was starting to see stats and not the good kind. He started to tap Bismuth rapidly as his oxygen supply slowly faded from being tightly hugged.

“Bismuth...could you....please....let go...” he somehow managed to say. 

The large gem looked down to see that she really was strangling the poor boy and released him from her strong hold. He fell to the ground and tried to catch his breath.

“Whoops! Sorry there, Steven. Sometimes I forget my own strength ha!” She laughed and slapped him on the back, again knocking the wind out of him. 

Steven caught his breath again and slowly stood back up. 

“Alright then. Maybe I could ask my dad if he wants to help out. Musics kinda his thing,” he said. Bismuth nodded back in approval, knowing that his father was musically talented but not successful. 

“Good idea. I’ll spread the word around here and back at Beach City. Come on Lapis and Peridot! We got work to do!” 

The rainbow haired gem started to run in the other direction towards the heart of the town, leaving Peridot and Lapis behind. 

“Right behind ya!” Lapis said as she picked up little Peridot without any warning, spreading her water wings to take flight.

“Hey! Warn me before ya do that, Lapis!” Peridot yelled as she was carried away. 

Steven watched as the trio slowly became out of sight. Then he turned to Amethyst and held his car keys in hand.

“Let’s go see if my dad’s at the wash!” He said, starting to run out to his car. 

Amethyst, holding the rest of the donuts in her hands, groaned as she had to run off more.

“Can’t we just stay in one place for once?” 

The two both ran to the car and were soon headed to Beach City. Neither of them had ever saw that they were being watched by a certain someone. 

The orange gem leaned against a wall with one foot resting on the ground and the other against the wall. She huffed as she watched them run away. 

Biggs and the other quartz walked up to this gem with their donuts.

“Hey Jasper, you gotta try these things. Earth food is actually really, really good,” Biggs said, holding out one of her donuts to Jasper. 

Jasper looked at the pastry in front of her eyes for a moment and swatted it away with a strong hand. Biggs watched as the glazed fell to the ground, crumbling slightly.

“I don’t need any of that, ‘specially since it came from...him,” Jasper said.

Biggs and the other gem both looked at each other with confused expressions.

“Uhh what? You mean Steven?” Biggs asked.

The so called “hero of the galaxy” has a name? “Steven?” Pathetic.  Jasper thought. 

“Yes. I do mean  _Steven_ ,” she spat the boy’s name with Venom.

“Jasp, it’s cool now. You don’t have to hate him.”

“Yea, you know he saved us all-“

Suddenly Jasper slammed her fist into the wall behind her, creating the concrete to crack against the impact.

“WOULD YOU SHUT UP? Ever since that little....pest created “equality” across Homeworld, everyone’s gotten soft! It’s like everyone forgot that our kind were elite warriors! Yellow Diamond led strong armies! Blue Diamond could make people weep by weeping herself! And White Diamond projected fear across galaxies!” Jasper yelled. 

“We can’t all just change automatically because some  thing  decided to sing a song and dance about peace! It’s..its...it’s DISGUSTING!”

Biggs fell silent for a moment, taking in all what Jasper had ranted. She hated to admit that the quartz was somewhat right but she was mainly wrong. She stepped forward with her hands up in defense.

“Look Jasper, maybe this change is for the better, ya know? I mean, Homeworld would’ve collapsed if it wasn’t for Steven. He helped us all realize that our fighting was stupid,” she said, hoping that would somehow make Jasper change her mind.

Instead, the orange gem only rolled her eyes and waved her hand.

“Please, all he’s helped us realize is that we’re weak. Just like how that one abomination calls herself a fusion. She fuses just so she could feel stronger yet she’s really frail and could easily be shattered. If they wanted to feel power, they could just fuse with me.”

Suddenly, a lightbulb flickered on above Jasper’s head. A smile slowly started to spread across her face and she chuckled to herself lightly.

She turned to Biggs and said,

“You know what, Biggs? You’re absolutely right. I’ll show  _Steven_ what he’s helped me realize. Thanks for the talk.”

Then Jasper started to walk away from the pair, the wind flowing in her lion’s mane of hair. 

“So uh..you gonna eat that donut, dude?” Biggs said to her friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever since the movie came out, I’ve been OBSESSED with Steven Universe again. I love Spinel with all my heart. I can’t stop drawing her and I relate to her by how she feels abandoned and alone. Friendship isn’t coming easy to me this year in school so Steven Universe has been there for me.
> 
> If I don’t update often, please know that I am in college and I high key got anxiety soo yea hopefully I can juggle like Spinel.
> 
> Anyway, onto the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Amethyst go find Greg for some supplies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry this story is really slow at the beginning. Believe me, I wanna get to the juicy stuff now but like all good stories, they start off slow. I REALLY WANNA MAKE A SPINEL STORY SO BAD I HONESTLY LOVE HOW PSYCHOTIC SHE IS. I LOVE WRITING ABOUT PSYCHOTICNESS (that ain’t a word but who cares). I’ve always been interested in psychology and for some reason how criminals think. Is that a bad thing? Maybe. Should I be checked into a mental hospital for my anxiety? Maybe.

Corrupted!  
Chapter 3: 

Steven and Amethyst arrived at Greg Universe’s job, It’s A Wash. His colorful MR UNIVERSE van was parked outside in the lot and Steven pulled his own car next to it. Both gem and boy get out and approach the building.

“Dad? Dad are you there?” Steven called as they walked into the car wash. There was no sign of Greg in the front room and he wasn’t in the washing area. 

“Maybe he’s in the van,” Steven thought out loud. They both walked back outside and up to the van. Steven lifted up a fist and lightly knocked on the back doors.

“Daaaad! Open up!” He said as he knocked. No answer. He tried a couple more times and nothing happened. Where could he be?

Amethyst got tired watching Steven fail at getting this going so she made him step to the side. “I got this dude. Watch and learn,” she said as she shapeshifted herself into a purple trumpet.

“Come on dude. Blow it.” Amethyst shifted her eyes toward the mouth piece.  
Steven’s own eyes widened and he blushed as red as Ruby.

“Amethyst...did you seriously just tell me to..”

“STEVEN!” Amethyst yelled at him. “If you want to get your dad outta here, you have to use my...trumpet mouth thing!” 

Steven backed up a few steps, still blushing madly. This was ridiculous. Why couldn’t they just knock louder? “No..I can’t do that..”

Amethyst was about to protest again when she decided against it. She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Guess I’ll try something else.” She shapeshifted into a large T-Rex. “This will surely get this lazyass outta here.”

“Don’t call my dad that-“

“Shut up I got it. Cover your ears.” Amethyst took a deep breath and then let out a loud roar from her dinosaur mouth. The ground shook from the sound waves, making everything around them shake and rumble. 

“AHHH!” A voice from inside the van shouted. Instantly, the doors slammed open and a man jumped right out. He landed on the ground with an oof. Greg was about to stand up again when he saw the Amethyst T-Rex. His eyes widened and stumbled backwards.

“I JUST WATCHED JURASSIC PARK AND I KNOW THIS WON’T END WELL!” He crouched down, covering his head. “DON’T EAT ME PLEASE! I DIDN’T GET TO GO TO COLLEGE LIKE MY DAD WANTED ME TO! MY MUSIC CAREER FAILED! I-wait a minute.” Greg I covered his head and looked back up. He squinted and noticed that the dinosaur was purple and had a gem placed on its chest. 

Oh. It’s only Amethyst. His eyes shifted from her to his son, who looked a bit shocked. And Steven. Greg got himself back up from the ground and spoke,

“Uh hey? If you wanted to wake me up, you coulda done something else than give me a heart attack. Something less threatening like uhh I dunno blow a trumpet?” 

Amethyst looked back down at Steven with a glare. “See?!” The boy sighed as his reply and stepped forward to his father. “Hey dad, sorry about that. We were just looking for you ‘is all,” he said, scratching his head in embarrassment. 

“Was it so important you had to bring a dinosaur?” Greg asked, leaning against his van. Steven went over and leaned next to him. 

“I mean there definitely was a better way to do so but yea. Bismuth wanted to throw Little Homeworld a big party for its opening and she asked if I could be the entertainment.”

Greg’s face pulled a smile. “That’s great, Stuball! But what would you sing? You could always sing one of mine..buut I don’t know if you could be a match for ol’ Mister Universe,” he joked, nudging his son with an elbow and winked. 

Steven laughed and then shook his head. “No I’m actually going to be singing...” He forgot he never told his father about his own writing. “My own music...?” His last word trailed off and he blushed again. 

Greg’s eyes widened again and was taken back by surprise. “WHAT! My own son? Writing his own music?!” He suddenly wrapped his arms around Steven and squeezed him tightly in a hug. Tears almost formed in his eyes. “Oh my gosh..I knew you liked music but I never thought that the Universe legacy would be passed down! Oh this is just so sudden..I could cry...”

Sure enough, Greg started to have tears rolling down his face. He rubbed them off, released his strong hug and chuckled. “Excuse me..your old man getting all emotional. Typical. I’m just so proud of you, Steven. First you save the world a bunch of times and now you make your own stuff. Wish I was that successful.”

This made Steven almost cry as well. He smiled at his father and answered, “Thanks dad. I wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for you. Now, I’m here because I wanted to ask if you had anything to help me perform.”

“Well sure I do, Stuball. I wouldn’t be Mr. Universe if I didn’t have anything for that sorta thing.”

Steven sighed internally in relief. He placed a hand on top of his fathers and looked him in the eye. “I was also wondering if you wanted to be with me on stage. This may seem kinda dumb but...I really liked it when we fused together that one time. Even if I was exhausted from not having my powers...being Steg was amazing.”

Greg looked back at his son, who looked a little embarrassed again. The man agreed, fusing was amazing. He wanted to do that with Rose before...before everything happened. At the moment of fusing, there wasn’t any time to process what they had just done. He never had time to process that he was actually capable of fusing with a gem. A gem that was also half human. A gem that was his son. 

Fusing with Steven felt like he understood him better. Fusing with him felt like he was closer with him. Well physically and emotionally. Was this how Garnet felt?

Wait did Steven make up a name for that fusion? 

“No that doesn’t sound dumb, kid. I enjoyed it too. I was never able to tell you that I did since the world was ending and whatever. Fusing with you was an amazing experience and I’d do anything to do it again..and actually live in that moment.” 

Greg brought Steven closer to him again and hugged. Amethyst, on the other hand, was getting slightly impatient. She admitted to herself that this was a nice moment but she wanted to get this rolling already. She hated to interrupt but walked over to the father and boy. 

“Hey, sorry to interrupt your little bonding moment but we’re kinda on a time crunch here,” the purple gem said. Steven put a hand to his forehead. He forgot!

“Oh yea that’s right! Sorry dad but the hugs will have to be postponed. Can we maybe go to your storage unit?” He said, getting up and asked his father. 

Greg sat for a moment and pondered that question. “Uh sure. I mean I don’t know why you’d wanna go there unless you wanna look at junk,” he said.

Steven waved a hand. He had a plan. If he was gonna perform his music, wearing this bright colored, organic jacket wasn’t going to go with what came out of his mouth. “I...kinda wanted to see if you had anything cool for me to maybe wear. That’s all!”

Greg shrugged and grabbed his car keys. “Alright. All I have are old Mr. Universe shirts, uhhh and a bunch of other junk.”

Steven and Amethyst went to his car while Greg went to his own. Then they were on their way to Greg’s storage unit a few blocks away. They arrived in no time and then were at the storage unit’s door. 

“Now I know that we cleaned it up last time the three of us were here...but it got messy again. Heh, I had to look for something and kinda messed it up in the process,” Greg said, unlocking the door and hoisted it upward.

The man wasn’t kidding, the storage unit was messy like it was before. Boxes were left open and some were on the floor with it’s contents spilling out. There was even a pizza box from a previous late night meal. 

Amethyst opened it to see if there was any slices left. Sure enough, there were a few and she gobbled them right up. 

Steven shuddered as he watched her eat probably weeks old pizza. He wasn’t surprised she would do that but it was still gross. He shook his head to get his train of thought back on its tracks. 

The boy entered the unit and started to maneuver his way around boxes. He opened a few but saw unnecessary things like old movies that he still not able to watch yet, winter clothing, and toys.

He opened one box and found a bunch of old photos. Steven was about to dismiss it when he saw something catch his eye. He reached out to it and looked at it in his hand.

It was a photo of Greg on the beach with his full head of hair and lacking his sunburn. He was laughing next to a woman. Oh. It was Rose...or Pink Diamond, he should say. 

His brows furrowed and sighed. Amethyst was walking by when she saw Steven holding the photo. She looked over his shoulder to see what he was looking at and realized the reason behind his mood. 

She put a hand on his shoulder, which startled him a little. He looked back at her and she smiled at him. “Hey, don’t worry about that right now, dude. Pretty soon you’re gonna be on stage totally rocking out. Let’s find your stuff and get outta here, okay?”

Steven looked back down at the picture in his hand. She was right. There was no time to be feeling this way. He put down the picture and smiled back at Amethyst. 

“You’re right. Let’s go find some clothes.”

Steven walked more towards the back of the unit. He spied a box that clearly said CLOTHES in black marker and opened it up. His eyes instantly lit up as he picked up one of the folded T-shirts inside. The shirt was pretty much like all the other Mr. Universe merchandise he had with the yellow star but this one was different.

This shirt was black while the rest he owned were more brighter colors. He never usually wore black but if he did tonight, maybe it’d give him some edge. Black was edgy...he wasn’t but he’d try. 

The shirt also didn’t have any sleeves on it. They were cut up to make it a tank top and revealed anyone’s arms that wore it. He’s seen pictures of his dad wearing it when he used to perform.

“Oh yea this is perfect!” He said, hugging the shirt. Behind him, Amethyst snickered a bit.

“Soo..a black version of the other shirts, huh? So original!” She laughed.

“No this is different. I don’t ever wear black. If they see me wearing this, they know I mean business.” He started to take off his jacket and blue shirt to replace it with the new one.

“Okayyy..whatever you say dude, I’m cool with it.” Amethyst looked over at another box with some other clothes in it. Maybe she could find something she’d like. 

She opened it up and spied a pair of black fingerless gloves. It even had tiny studs on the knuckles. She’s seen rock stars wear them so maybe this would be good for Steven. She picked them up and showed it to him. 

“Hey if you’re trying to go for that bad boy look, maybe this’ll sell it,” she said, placing them in his hands.

Steven lit up the same way he did when he saw the black shirt. He slipped them off and started to laugh giddily.

“Now we’re talkin! Thanks Amethyst!” He said, flexing his fingers in the gloves. 

“Hey you guys done in there? I kinda have to get back to the Wash..aka my job,” Greg’s voice called. 

“Comin Dad!” Steven replied. Both boy and gem made there way out of the box maze back to Steven’s dad. Steven came into Greg’s view with a smile on his face. 

“Notice anything different?” He started to pose a little to reveal it more if it wasn’t obvious enough.

Greg was in the middle of texting someone but when he took his eyes off of his phone and onto his son, he almost dropped it. His jaw dropped as well.

Was he....wearing his shirt?

“Oh my gosh...Steven! That looks so great on you.” He started to feel the tears coming back in his eyes. “Why do you keep surprising me like this, son? I can’t take it!” He hugged Steven again in a tight hug. 

“My own boy...carrying the Universe legacy..or the failed legacy but it’s coming back!”

Steven did enjoy hugging his dad but now it was starting to get ridiculous. And really tight. Wow he couldn’t breathe. Who knew his dad had this strength?

“Dad..can you let...me go?” He struggled to say.

Greg heard his son’s plea and instantly released his grip. “Heh. Sorry kiddo. Let’s get you to that concert.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna write more father son bonding it’s so fucking cute. Again, sorry for bad start. It will get better I promise. Anywayy..onto the next chapter!
> 
> (If I don’t update as often, please remember I am in college and I am slowly losing my mind ;) thanks)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven shouts his heart out in the form of song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I actually found the time to write! 
> 
> NOTICE: all italics are either thoughts from characters or song lyrics
> 
> Geez I hate editing this and my eyes hurt. I type this all out on my notes on my phone cause I like to have it saved and doing all of the returns and italics manually was a pain in the ass

Corrupted! Chapter 4: The Universe van zoomed to Little Homeworld, almost crashing into a few gems. It came to a screeching halt with dust picking up as the tires stopped their movement. 

Night had already fallen, making the air seem a little chillier in the fall evening. Steven always liked Beach City in the fall. Sure summer was great but it was nice when the tourists left and everything became peaceful.

But right now was not the time to appreciate the season. It was time to give Little Homeworld a rocking time. And Steven felt ready to roll.

The three stepped out of the car and headed towards a large stage that most likely Bismuth had built. Steven was a little surprised that it was built in such a short amount of time. But then again, this was Bismuth they were talking about. 

The stage had lights hanging over head already flashing bright colors. A crowd of gems and some humans from earlier today were in front of the stage, talking to one another with excitement. Steven spotted Garnet, Pearl, and Connie amongst them.

_ Oh boy. He has to perform in front of Connie now? Wonder what she’ll think of him after she hears his music. She won’t think of him as the silly and innocent young boy he used to be. Maybe he was overthinking this. Hopefully nothing will go wrong. Oh crap oh crap she noticed me staring! _

Connie was talking to Pearl when at the corner of her eye, she spotted Steven standing with his father and Amethyst. She noticed that he looked a little different.

_What happened to his light blue shirt?_ He still had his pink jacket on but the blue shirt was now black. She also noticed that he had been staring at her and looked a bit nervous. She excused herself from Pearl and ran over to her friend. “Steven!” Connie said excitedly as she hugged him. “I can’t believe you’re gonna be singing! Are you nervous?” 

Steven didn’t really want to talk at the moment to be quite honest but maybe talking to someone will ease his nerves. Maybe he should play it cool.

“Pff me? Nervous? Ha! Don’t be ridiculous, Connie! If I can save the galaxy numerous times, I think I can sing in front of people for a short time,” he laughed, a hint of nervousness was in his voice. Steven silently prayed that Connie didn’t pick that up. He was wrong, this was Connie.

She was smart enough to notice the lie. She looked at him quizzically and put a hand on his shoulder, which made him flinch a bit. “I know you’re nervous, Universe. You don’t have to play it cool in front of me. If I were you, I’d definitely be nervous!” She said. “If it makes you feel any better, just pretend you’re alone and it will be okay!”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment without any words spoken. Connie decided to break that silence again. She suddenly leaned in close to Steven’s ear. He could feel her hot breath against his skin, making it crawl. “You’re right. If you can save the galaxy, this’ll be a piece of cake.”

Connie cupped Steven’s face in her palms and pulled him close to land a kiss on his cheek. Steven became bright red and felt an excessive amount of heat rise in him. Connie started to walk away from him with a smirk on her face and giggled. “Loving the new shirt by the way!” She winked as she went back to Pearl, leaving Steven stunned with his mouth open.

Amethyst walked up to Steven and watched Connie walk away. She looked back at Steven and then understood why he was blushing so much. “Steveeeenn you sly dog!” She shapeshifted her head into a dogs head. “Woof woof!” Amethyst started to laugh, throwing her dog head back. 

Steven couldn’t comprehend what just happened. It was like his brain completely shut down like a computer. ERROR. Steven.exe does not compute. ERROR. “Uh huh..” was all the boy could utter. 

Suddenly, Bismuth’s loud voice was heard and rebooted his brain. “STEVEN! Yo!! Earth to Steven!” She shouted, waving a hand in front of his eyes. Steven was so lost in thought that he never noticed Bismuth standing next to him. 

He shook his head and turned to face the large gem. “Hey Bis! Heh...sorry I got a little uh..side tracked,” he laughed, rubbing his arm. Bismuth was a bit confused by what he meant but dismissed-or should she say Bismuthed it-with a smile. 

“No worries, little man. I was just comin’ over to let you know that we’re ready for you! Can hardly wait to hear your voice again,” Bismuth said, slapping Steven’s back with a strong hand. “I’ll be backstage if ya need anything.” She started to walk towards behind the stage where Peridot and Lapis both stood.

Steven turned to face his father, who was right behind him. “Ready to do this, dad?” He asked. He held up a hand for him to clasp. Greg smiled and took it. “ ‘Course I am!” He answered. They both turned and ran to the back of the stage.

Bismuth saw them and understood that was her cue to introduce them to the crowd. The rainbow haired gem went up a small set of stairs on the side and walked into the spotlights.

Steven watched her with anticipation. He wanted to do this but fear kept creeping into his mind. He knew he performed in front of people before but that wasn’t his songs. But then something else came to mind. 

Connie.

That kiss.

Her words. It all came back to him. He had to perform as if he was alone. He took a deep breath, held it in for a few seconds and then let it all out.

_You got this, Universe. Piece of cake. _

Steven calmed his thoughts as Bismuth grabbed a microphone and smirked. “How we doin’ tonight, Little Homeworld?” She shouted, her voice boomed from the speakers to the crowd. As an answer, everyone excitedly screamed and shouted.

“Yea! That’s what I like to hear! Before we begin here, I just wanted to say thank you so much for everyone’s help. Little Homeworld wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.” The crowd clapped their hands together.

“Alright then, without further ado...Ladies and gentlemen, gems of all facets, please put your hands together for....STEVEN UNIVERSE!”

The sound of the crowd was almost deafening. It was almost as if a group of Lions were there in place of people and gems. It all filled Steven with excitement. He walked up the stairs and onto the stage. His pink jacket was resting on his shoulders without his arms in the sleeves, almost as if he had a cape.

Instantly, he was hit with the fluorescent lighting from above. It was bright but not as bright as White Diamond so he shrugged it off. Steven took his place at the front microphone with his guitar while Greg took his a few meters away. Amethyst actually volunteered to be on the drums. Some other band members also took their place (but weren’t exactly important to the story).

Steven looked out to the crowd to see if he could spot some familiar faces for comfort. He immediately saw Garnet standing with Pearl and Connie. They all looked back at him with smiles on their faces. He then noticed that Garnet threw a thumbs up which made him smile back.

Steven smirked a devious smirk and started to speak in the microphone, his voice a little deeper. “It’s a big old universe out there, and when you’re getting crushed under the weight of them stars, sometimes, you need that special someone to remind you that you’re so much more.” He winked the same way Steg did before and threw his jacket to the crowd.

Others tried to reach for it but to his pleasure, Connie was the one to catch it. The girl looked down to see that she caught Steven’s jacket and then looked back up to the stage, but then almost did a double take when she saw what was hidden from the jacket.

Her cheeks instantly grew red and hot. Steven’s black shirt didn’t have sleeves like the others did that he wore. They were ripped off, revealing his arms more. He wore black fingerless gloves on his hands as well.

_Wait what? When did he get that shirt? Where did he get it? Why is he wearing that? And...why does it make me feel a certain way? _

All of these thoughts swirled in Connie’s head while Garnet and Pearl both looked shocked as well. They recognized that shirt anywhere! It was the shirt Greg wore when Rose was...still around. They both looked at each other with confused and shocked looks. Steven took his gaze off from the crowd and back to his guitar. He started to play the first few notes. 

Immediately, everyone froze for a moment to hear Steven play. It was almost as if he was a siren and the crowd were sailors, caught in a trance from music. The teenager opened his mouth to start singing, pretending that he was alone in his room.

“_It’s getting late now but to me it’s just beginning. This night’s tearing me to pieces and I feel all defeated, oh no and she don’t know. I've never heard someone like this before. My liquid grief spills to the floor and I’m screaming like a banshee wondering how can she just go..But she don’t know_”

The music inside of Steven flowed like a stream of water. It replaced the blood in his veins and poured out as he played his guitar. He felt sweat start to roll down his forehead already and it dripped down to the stage’s wooden floor.

“_That there ain’t no drug in all the world like loving you. Cocaine and cigarettes will have to do. Won’t somebody save me, my heart’s beating out my chest and I just want to hold you with those steady hands I once possessed.” _

He took a deep breath after he sang the last word of the chorus and then let it all out with a sigh. 

In the crowd, Pearl, Garnet and Connie listened to the song intently. They were so amazed that Steven made this song all by himself. Pearl picked up two new words from Steven’s lyrics but wasn’t exactly sure what they had meant.

_Were those new human things I never picked up? _

She wondered. Pearl tapped Connie, who was watching her friend with absolute wonder, on the shoulder. The tap seemed to have broke her out of it and the girl turned to Pearl. 

“Yes Pearl?” She asked. “Umm I’m not exactly sure if this is the best time to be asking this, Connie, but I heard Steven say some words that I don’t believe I’ve heard before. Believe me, I’m surprised as you are. I’ve been on Earth for quite some time!”

Connie looked at Pearl confusedly. “What words were they?” She wasn’t exactly prepared for Pearl’s answer. “Are the words “cocaine” and “cigarettes” new human slang?”

Pearl’s question made the human girl’s eyes go wide and her jaw drop slightly. She was at lost for words. She stuttered a bit.

“Uhhhhh..no?” _Shoot, I’m gonna have to explain what drugs and tobacco are to her!_ Connie looked at Pearl, who seemed to be waiting for her answer. Just go with this. It’s fine! “Well ya see...”

Connie decided to whisper to Pearl of what Steven mentioned in his song. She wasn’t sure why she decided to whisper since they were at a concert but her decision became an action.

Garnet turned one of her three eyes to look at the two speaking to one another. She rolled all of her eyes once she foresaw the outcome with her future vision.

Pearl’s expression went in a whirlwind of emotions from confused, to surprised, to anger. “STEVEN HOW COULD YOU KNOW OF SUCH HORRIBLE THINGS!” Pearl shouted but it wasn’t like the boy could even hear her from his music.

Speaking of his music...

“F_ucked up on my bedroom floor and my first thought’s let’s do some more. They say it all kills with thrills and I hope it does! HUH! Can you hear me, love? Love and poison, all the same. They share these interchangeable names and I’m jonesing for the dopamine these things are the means to my end. But I still pretend!! That there ain’t no drug in all the world like loving you, cocaine and cigarettes will have to do. Won’t somebody save me my heart’s beating out my chest and I just want to hold you With those steady hands I once possessed!” _

By now, Steven didn’t even have to pretend that he was alone. It really felt like it was just him and his music at the moment. He wrote these lyrics when he felt anger arose inside of him, pouring his feelings onto paper and now he poured them onto the guitar and from his voice. Many would’ve been surprised that he had this all inside of him but if they knew what he had gone through in the past, they’d understand. He just hoped what he went through was over but deep down he knew there was always work for him to do. And that was the price of having a gemstone in his navel. 

“_Where did I go (Oh where did I go)? Oh baby I’m yours (Oh baby I’m, baby I’m, baby I’m yours!) If only you’d known (If only you’d known) That baby I’m yours! YEAAAAHH!! GO!”_

The song broke into its instrumentals of Steven and Greg strumming their guitars and Amethyst slamming her drums. In the crowd, Biggs was pulling along a very annoyed looking Jasper with her. The orange gem’s feet created a trail in the dirt from being dragged a couple feet.

“Cmon Jasper you can stay with me just for one song! How bad can it be?” Biggs asked her. Jasper huffed and rolled her eyes.

“How bad? I’m forced to be with these other puny gems, and the puniest gem here is up on that stage singing! And you know I HATE SINGING!” She roared.

“Well you’re staying whether you like it or not!” Biggs barked back, crossing her arms.

Back on stage, Steven and Greg gave each other a signal look and started to walk closer together while playing. Their backs collided against each other and as the music started to seem like it was going to stop, there was a big flash of light from the pair. The light almost blinded the crowd from its sheer brightness.

The light faded and in place where Greg and Steven once stood was the fusion none other than Steg. He stole the show with his solo on his guitar, his four hands zipping on the chords like lightning.

The fusion had his eyes closed as he felt the power of music flow through him and a smile crept on his face. The crowd went absolutely nuts once they saw the fusion form. Pearl whooped excitedly as she saw him for a second time. As for Garnet, she couldn’t believe her three eyes. When the first time she ever saw him was when her memories were wiped but now she could see him with her mind intact. She clasped her hands together and the biggest smile was displayed. Garnet felt extremely proud of Steven and there was nothing else to describe it.

As for Jasper, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing either since she looked up at the perfect time. Her eyes were glued onto the stage, not caring that Biggs was giggling at her.

_ How...how is it possible that little runt was able to fuse....with a human? Was he that powerful? _

Now Jasper had the turn to have a smile spread across her face but it wasn’t a happy smile. It was a smile that said “I just hatched an evil plan mwhaha.” But nobody noticed, for they were too invested in the spectacular show from Steg. The guitar solo soon came to a close and so did the fusion of Greg and Steven. A flash of light shone again and both men popped out. 

Greg felt a little fatigued from the fusion but Steven kept on singing. 

_“There ain’t no drug in all the world like loving you. Cocaine and cigarettes will have to do. Won’t somebody save me my heart’s beating out my chest and I just want to hold you with those steady hands I once possessed. Where did I go Oh baby I’m yours. If only you’d known that baby I’m yours.” _

The lyrics had stopped and the instruments still had a few chords left to finish until the song was finally over. More sweat started to drip from Steven’s face as he tried to catch his breath.

_Heh..I did it. Wasn’t so bad. Wow my heart’s beating fast. Guess I could say that my heart’s beating out of my chest._

The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, making it seem like everything was exploding. Steven heard some whistles here and there from some gems. The applause went on for what had seemed like quite awhile. He looked behind him to see that his father also looked a bit out of breath. Greg caught his gaze and put a thumbs up with a smile. That was probably his way of saying “you did good, kiddo.” 

_Huh...guess this kiddo did do good._

Bismuth came from backstage with Lapis and Peridot in tow. She grabbed a microphone in one hand and then grabbed Steven’s in another. She hoisted him upward as if he was a boxer that had just won the world championship. “Give it up for Steven Universe!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should be doing homework but NOOO I’m writing a fanfic! (Don’t worry my studies always come first but wow why is my major special education/early education and not writing if I’m writing??)
> 
> NOTICE: ALL CREDIT GOES TO ZACH CALLISON, THE VOICE OF STEVEN AND THE CREATOR OF THE SONG “SHE DON’T KNOW” 
> 
> Okay once I heard this song, I just KNEW that I had to make Steven be all edgy and sing. I fucking love the idea of him letting his bad boy side come out of him and sing just like Greg. Also Zach Callison has an amazing voice, you really should listen to his album A Picture Perfect Hollywood Heartbreak. It’s so strange to hear Steven’s voice swear and say stuff about cocaine. Once I heard that, I knew I had to make Pearl go bird mom. 
> 
> Man I had a lot of fun writing this. Onto the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven’s song ends and he reconnects with those he cares about deeply. He works up the courage to ask Connie something important while Jasper tries to do something important to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooo boy! Now comes the fun part 😈
> 
> Thought this story was gonna be all warm and fuzzy? Honey, you got a big storm coming. And that storm’s name is Wormy Boi
> 
> I just HAD to make Steven and Connie all cute though..and Pearl act like a mother..
> 
> (ALSO IF YOU SAW ME SELF PROMOTING ON OTHER STORIES PLEASE REALIZE THAT I APOLOGIZE AND I WILL NOT DO THAT AGAIN. IDK HOW ELSE TO ADVERTISE THIS. NO HATRED TO OTHER STORIES THEY ARE ALL AMAZING)

Corrupted!

Chapter 5:

The crowd was going absolutely insane for Steven’s performance. They whooped and hollered with fists in the air. The boy listened to their cheers, his ears filled up with the sound and a smile spread across his face. 

_Guess I had no reason to be worried before. They all seemed to enjoy it! Let’s just hope Connie and the Crystal Gems don’t have anything bad to say._

Bismuth still had her hand clasped around his and she wore a big smile as well. “That was something else, Steven! I’ve never heard anything like that coming from you!” She exclaimed, hugging him but not super tightly this time. 

“Heh, thanks Bis. I wouldn’t have shared this with everyone if it weren’t for you.” Steven answered. 

He suddenly felt more pairs of hands wrap around him. He looked up to see Peridot, Lapis and Amethyst all beaming at him. 

“Dude you totally rocked the place!” Amethyst said, holding up the sign of the horns with her fingers to mimic a rockstar. 

“I agree! That was waaay better than what lumpy Homeworld plays at their so-called balls!” Peridot agreed, ending with a mocking tone. “If Yellow Diamond knew that I made excuses not to go to them, she would’ve shattered me on the spot!” She started to laugh at her own joke.

They stood their hugging and giggling for a few more moments and then it slowly dwindled. As they let go, Steven realized he wanted to go see Connie and the other two Crystal gems left. He excused himself from the group and hopped off the stage to run to his friend.

Connie saw the boy coming towards her and a big smile spread across her face. She, too, started to run towards Steven. They both instantly collided in a hug and Steven even lifted her from the ground.

A few feet away, Garnet and Pearl watched the laughing and hugging pair. Both of them had proud smiles on their faces at the scene. 

Suddenly, Pearl’s smile soon faded when she started to think about Steven’s song lyrics and what she had just found out. She took a step forward to reprimand him when a hand with a sapphire blue gem held her back.

Pearl looked up to find that it was Garnet’s hand but the fusion wasn’t even looking back at her. She was still looking at the hugging teenagers. “Don’t do that just yet. Let Steven have this moment, then you can go on a tirade,” she calmly said, smirking a little. 

Pearl held up a finger and opened her mouth to interject the larger gem but then soon realized it was best not to argue with her. She knew of the consequences and didn’t like how that happened in the past. 

The white gem took a deep breath, held it in and then let it back out. “You’re right. Wait did you say tirade? I’ll have you know I don’t-“ a finger was placed on her lips. 

“Pearl. Just watch,” Garnet said. Pearl made a strange frustrated noise from her mouth and crossed her arms like a pouting child. She stayed silent and watched the two teenagers again.

“Steven that was absolutely amazing! I knew you could do it!” Connie said as Steven gently put her down. She let go of her hold on him to look at him. 

“Thanks, Connie. Yea I was nervous but what you said before actually helped. I kinda forgot that I was in front of people,” Steven replied. 

Connie laughed. “See? When am I wrong? You should listen to me more often!” She lightly punches his arm playfully. 

_She’s right. Connie is definitely a smart person that does have good things to say. Maybe she should be the voice inside my head._

Steven rubbed the back of his head and an embarrassed smile spread across his face. “Heh, yea maybe that’d be a smart thing to do.”

“Well...uh”

Connie’s face started to turn a bright red and felt hot. She couldn’t form coherent sentences. 

“_It’s now or nothing, Maheswaran! Right now is the perfect moment to tell him you like him...since that shirt on him really makes you feel something. Don’t chicken out_!”  Her inner thoughts screamed at her as she stared into Steven’s dark brown eyes.

“Umm...”

The self affirmation didn’t do so much. She still felt so nervous. Sweat started to pour a little. One of Steven’s eyebrows moved upward in confusion from the girl’s sudden silence. 

“_Okay this is ridiculous. Man up, girl! Or..girl up! Woman up? Yea Woman up sounds better. Okay shut up thoughts just tell him already!”_

“W-Well perfect I-I.....can teach you. Here’s step one to becoming smarter,” Connie finally managed to build her courage up. She grabbed Steven’s jacket so suddenly, making him gasp lightly. The girl pulled him close to her and planted her lips onto his.

Steven, still very unsure of what was going on but soon didn’t care, melted into Connie’s kiss and kissed back. He put an arm around Connie’s waist to pull her into him.

Behind them, Pearl and Garnet were still watching. The fusion had a proud smile on her face while the other gem had her hands over her mouth in surprise. 

“I understand why you didn’t let me, Garnet,” Pearl said, starting to giggle with joy. 

The kiss lasted for a few more moments until the teens started to become out of breath. They parted their lips to take a breather and looked into each other’s eyes. Both of their faces were a very bright red and didn’t say anything for a bit. That silence was broken when they started to giggle. 

Connie’s phone started to vibrate in her pocket and interrupted her giggling. She reached in to grab it to see who texted her. It was her mother saying something in all caps: 

_“CONNIE MAHESWARAN WHERE ARE YOU RIGHT NOW? COME HOME THIS INSTANT YOUNG WOMAN! YOUR FATHER WOULD LIKE TO EAT DINNER NOW!”_

Connie put her phone back into her pocket after she was done reading the message and groaned slightly. She hated to leave Steven right now but she would rather not see her mother angry.

“Hey, Steven, I’m sorry but I gotta get home now. My mom is gonna have a cow if I don’t come home in the next .5 seconds. You and I both know how she gets!” She said, holding his hands in hers and lightly squeezing. 

Steven sighed and then replied, “hey no worries. We can hang out later if you want to. I’ll have Lion take you home.” He put his fingers to his lips and blew, making a whistling sound. Moments later, a large pink lion that looked like it woke up from a nap walked up to the pair. 

Connie hoisted herself up on Lion’s back. She looked back at Steven, who was looking a little upset. Lion started to walk in the other direction. 

_ I don’t want her to leave. I’m sure she doesn’t want to either but I’d much rather have her not get in trouble.  Wait a minute.  Oh crap gotta tell her before Lion warps away! _

“Connie wait!” Steven yelled and ran forward to catch up to the mammal. Connie turned around to face him with a wondering expression. 

“Yea Steven?” She asked.

Steven started to rub his arm nervously and started to laugh a little. “Well..uh I was just wondering if you maybe wanted to....haveapicniconthebeach? With me? Just the two of us? I uh..it’s okay if you don’t want to...” 

Connie sat in shock. She didn’t know what else to say, for this was the first time someone had ever asked her on a date.  _Wait is this a date? Are they dating? Doesn’t this happen in movies?!_

Connie calmed her thoughts down and then smiled. “It’s a date, Universe. See ya later!” And with those last words, Lion turned around and started to run in the other direction. His eyes glowed white and he roared so a portal could shoot out in front. Then the girl and cat stepped inside to go to Connie’s home. 

Steven still stood there in place, trying to register what he had just done. 

“ Holy crap I think I just asked Connie on a date...and she said YES.”

The boy felt like he could do back flips right now but wouldn’t try to do so to not hurt himself. Instead he jumped into the air with a fist punching, his gem powers allowing him to float for a bit. 

His sandals touched back down on the dirt and started to run off in the other direction to tell the others what just happened. Suddenly, his face collided against something solid and muscular, stopping him from going any further.

“Oh so sorry my ba-Garnet?” Steven looked up to see the tall fusion standing over him. Behind Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst followed.

Garnet had a little smile on her face, her hands were on her hips. “No worries, Steven. It’s just us coming to see why you look so happy,” she said in a calming tone. 

Now that the Crystal Gems were here, Steven realized that he didn’t have to move anywhere. He wanted to take his time to say what he had to say but couldn’t contain his excitement.

“Oh my gosh, you guys, I actually asked Connie on a date! And she said yes!” He said with a smile and stars in his eyes. 

Pearl stepped up to the boy with her arms folded, she wasn’t looking so excited for him. 

“That’s very nice, Steven. I am happy for you but I’m not so happy about your song. How could you sing about things like cocaine and cigarettes?” She said in a slightly angry tone. “I mean I did just learn about them today, but still! And then all the swearing!”

Steven shrank a little while Amethyst rolled her eyes. Garnet only shook her head and slightly giggled.

“Uh chill it, will ya P? Can’t you see that Steven is a young adult? Ain’t a baby no more,” Amethyst barked back. “I mean with all that he’s been through these past couple years, I don’t blame the kid for having those lyrics. Personally, I liked them.”

Garnet saw the look on Pearl’s face and could tell that Pearl most definitely won’t be “chilling.” She could tell even without looking into one of the future’s many paths. She decided that it was best for her to step in as the mediator...as always.

“I think what Pearl’s trying to say is that she is very proud of you, Steven, for making your own music and for asking Connie out. The only thing she is upset about is what your lyrics spoke of and doesn’t want you going down the wrong path,” she said, putting a hand on Pearl’s shoulder as if she was about to hold her back. 

Surprisingly, Pearl didn’t make any other remarks. She simply nodded her head in agreement. “That is correct. Thank you Garnet. I think you put it in better words than I would have. I’m only looking out for you, Steven. It was a lovely song but I don’t exactly agree with the lyrics.”

Steven had to admit that maybe the image he put on stage was probably very different from what he was usually like. He was glad that they were only caring for his wellbeing.

“Yea..sorry about that guys. I promise to you now that I won’t go down any wrong path from this day forward!” He held up his right hand and his left on his heart as a pledge. 

This seemed to alleviate the Crystal Gems’ worries and the three of them brought their boy into a hug. It felt nice that it was just the three of them like it used to be.

They broke their hug after a few awkward silences. Amethyst was the first one to speak. She stretched and said,”I’m hungry. I think they got some pizza somewhere around here. I say let’s celebrate.”

Steven seemed to agree by the look on his face and the growl of his stomach. Pearl and Garnet only tagged along since they didn’t have to/didn’t like to eat. They all started to walk towards a small tent with tables to grab a few slices. 

Over back by the stage, Lapis, Bismuth and Peridot were starting to pack a few things to get the place cleaned a little. Peridot levitated some of the microphone stands with her powers while Bismuth carried the heavy things. Lapis, on the other hand, didn’t really feel like helping out so she leaned against the stage. 

She never noticed the large orange gem staring at her a few feet away. Jasper laughed to herself and started to make her way to Lapis to initiate her plan. 

She placed a hand near Lapis’s head, making a slightly loud sound which made the blue gem flinch and turn to look at the hand.

Lapis followed the hand that led to an arm and then led to Jasper. She was about to feel slightly scared when she realized she could take this cheesepuff of a gem. She rolled her eyes and turned to the other side to avoid eye contact.

“What do you want, Jasper. Can’t you see that I’m busy?” She said I’m annoyed tone. 

This made Jasper laugh with her deep voice. Her shoulders bounced up and down as she laughed. 

“Oh don’t mind me, Lazuli! I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to check up on how my old friend was doin ‘is all! Can’t I see a friend? Or is that ‘bad’ to you?” She smirked.

Lapis silently growled. She didn’t want to make a scene and most certainly didn’t want Peridot or Bismuth to come rushing in to save her. She could handle this on her own. 

She poked a finger at the orange gem’s chest and barked back. “Look, Jasper. It isn’t wrong to see a friend but I don’t see how you think that we are friends in any way. Not for how you treated me in the past.”

Jasper blew a raspberry and waved a hand. “Oh past schmast! It’s called the past for a reason! What happened, happened. Doesn’t mean that it’ll happen again....unless..”

The orange gem suddenly grabbed Lapis’s hand with force, causing the blue gem to shriek. Her shriek alarmed other gems around her, including Steven and the Crystal Gems. 

The teen picked his head up from his pepperoni pizza to see where the shriek came from. A piece of meat fell from his lips as his eyes widened and his lips parted in surprise.

_Oh no not again!_

Steven slammed his pizza slice down on his plate and sprang up to run to Jasper and Lapis. The pair were just about to force fuse into Malachite when a pink shield was summoned and thrown into the wood between them. Jasper looked back at the boy in surprise.

“Oh hey there Steven! Long time no see! How’s it going? Still rely on those pesky gems you call family? Ha! Pathetic!” She laughed.

Steven hated to resort to violence but he was the one that adorned the shield as the protector. He had to protect those he cared about and he wasn’t going to like Malachite he formed again. Not in a million years.

“Jasper! That’s enough!” Steven yelled. Anger was written all over his face. “We’ve already had Malachite formed and we don’t need her again!”

Jasper looked back at Lapis, who dangled from her large hand, then looked back at the boy. She threw her head back and laughed.

“Oh but Steven, I miss Malachite! And I’m sure little Lazuli does too!” 

The rest of the Crystal Gems caught up behind him and all had their weapons summoned at the ready. Steven didn’t even have to look back at them and held a hand up to signal that he could handle this alone.

He bravely stepped forward and took away his shield. It shimmered away into nonexistence with sparkles. Steven realized that maybe he could talk Jasper out of this...hopefully. 

“Look, Jasper, I don’t know why you decided to act like this right now but we don’t need anything bad to happen. I’m sure you can agree with that. There’s no need to fight, we’re all friends here,” he said with his hands up to show he wasn’t there to fight. 

Jasper was taken back a little, she didn’t know that the boy wasn’t going to fight back. That didn’t matter right now, she saw that this was her opportunity since his guard was down. All she had to do was to make the guard lower and play along.

She pretended to put an innocent expression on her face and opened her hand that held Lapis. The blue gem fell to the ground with a thump. 

She stepped closer to Steven with her hands held up in surrender. “You’re right about that. It’s fine that I can’t fuse into Malachite.” She took Steven’s hand into her’s and lightly shook it. Everyone had thought that Jasper had really changed her mind. She fooled Steven the most as he smiled back.

But then suddenly, Jasper put a strong hold on it. “But if I can’t fuse into Malachite, I GUESS I’LL HAVE TO FUSE WITH YOU INSTEAD!” 

Both Jasper’s and Steven’s gem’s started to glow bright as the forced fusion was about to form. 

Jasper’s strength was unbearable. It felt like going against a strong current in the sea, constantly pushing against the teen. 

_Come on, Steven, don’t let it form. Don’t let it form. Don’t let it form. DO NOT LET IT FORM! _

He fought against the fusions push and pulled back from it. The light that usually shone when a fusion occurs started to bend in shape, fighting to form any sort of body part. 

Jasper was strong but Steven had to be stronger. With one final pull, both post-corrupted gem and boy both popped from the fusion and the light faded. 

Whatever amalgamation Jasper wanted to form ceased to exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (ALL ITALICS ARE THOUGHTS FROM CHARACTERS)
> 
> I hate college. But I do love writing this stupid story. I did nothing all day today but workout, watch YouTube and Netflix, and write this story. I already finished my work so today was alllll play. 
> 
> I kinda rushed the end part a bit and I’m sorry about that. I just felt that this chapter was getting long. I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS WRITTEN DOWN YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITED I AM!!
> 
> Okay now that I’ve said all that, onto to the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the gems all go home after tonight’s events. All seemed peaceful until the images in his head started to play during his sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: GORE IS IN THIS CHAPTER BUT IM NOT SO GOOD AT WRITING IT.
> 
> ALL ITALICS ARE INNER THOUGHTS
> 
> Things are started to get interestinnggg

Corrupted!

Chapter 6:

The atmosphere in Little Homeworld felt incredibly tense. Gems and humans both watched in horror as the fusion of Jasper and Steven failed to form. 

Steven stayed on the ground after he fell from the fusion. It really took a lot out of him since he already had fused with Greg and performed not too long ago. He knew fusing takes some energy but had no idea trying to fight one would be more strenuous.

The boy had sweat rolling down his forehead and his heart was beating fast. He tried to steady the pace by breathing deeply and calming himself.

_Ugh..never thought that this would tire me out so much. Guess Connie should also suggest to me to lose some weight maybe...yea that’d be smart_.

Next to him, Jasper realized that this was the perfect opportunity to just run away. The partially corrupted quietly got herself up from the ground and slinked away to the nearest warp pad.

She looked back behind her to see gems running up to Steven to make sure he was okay. Jasper did not feel any bit of remorse for what she had done to him. 

_ I don’t know what that fusion did to him..but whatever it did, he completely deserves it. He was the one that changed Homeworld,  my Homeworld, for the worst. It’s not my problem for what happens to him, it’s his. _

Jasper turned back around and let the warp pad take her away to wherever she wanted. A column of light glowed with a shing and off Jasper went to an unknown planet. 

All of the gems he knew and held dear to him all ran up to Steven with worried expressions. Greg came up as well. 

“Steven!” His father yelled as he made his way over to his son and held him close to him. “Oh my gosh are you okay?” 

Steven hugged Greg back and sighed. 

“I’m fine, dad. I’m fine, guys. Just tired.”

He was also worried where Jasper went. Right when everyone started to come up to him, Steven had noticed that the defiant gem had slipped away.

He figured that Jasper warped somewhere else and hoped that she was as far away right now. He didn’t need her to return and cause more mayhem.

Steven steadily got himself up from the ground and shook the dirt off of him that managed to get on him. He walked up to Bismuth and Peridot to give them an instruction. They could tell that he was serious by the look in his eyes and stood attentively.

“Listen, Jasper is gone now. She must’ve warped away. I want you two to be on a close lookout to see if she ever decides to come back. If she does, immediately call me,” he said, looking at both tall and little gem in the eyes. “We don’t need any more of this to happen.”

Bismuth nodded her head solemnly while Peridot gave the teen a salut. “You can count on us, Steven! I won’t let that traitorous clod slip from my cold steel watch!” The green gem said, making her eyes wider to emphasize her point.

Steven mentally sighed in relief. He was glad he could count on these guys. As long as Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis were around, Little Homeworld should be okay.

_Speaking of Lapis, where was she? Was she okay after being antagonized by Jasper? Gotta go find her before I leave_.

Steven excused himself from the two and began to survey the area to look for the blue gem. He didn’t have to look very hard and saw that she was already speaking to the three Crystal Gems already. He ran up to the four to console Lapis.

“Lapis!” 

The other three gems saw Steven approaching and stopped their conversation to let him speak to Lapis. The boy immediately hugged the blue gem as soon as he arrived at the scene and she hugged him back.

“Oh Lapis, are you okay? Did Jasper hurt you at all? Do I need to heal you?” He asked left and right with a worried tone. He was about to ask more when Lapis pulled away from the hug and looked at him.

“Steven, it’s okay. I’m okay. Jasper didn’t hurt me at all. If she did, you know what I would’ve done to her but I didn’t,” she assured him. Her expression turned from gentle to a little embarrassed. “You didn’t have to do that for me though...”

“No. I did have to, Lapis. You would be formed into Malachite right now and that’s not something we need to happen,” Steven said.

_I need to protect you guys. I’m the one that wears the shield, not you. It’d be my fault if I let you get hurt._

Steven pulled Lapis into another hug and held it for a few more seconds. Then realized of how tired he still was and let go. He squeezed Lapis’s shoulders before letting go to let her know that he will always be there. 

He looked back at the Crystal Gems and nodded to signal he wanted to go home. They all noticed and started to walk in the other direction towards Greg’s van. The man had insisted to take everyone home so Steven could get some needed rest. They’d worry about his car still being at the storage unit later. Nobody decided to argue against that.

Everyone piled into Greg’s van and settled themselves in. Pearl sat in the passenger side in the front with Greg while Garnet and Amethyst stayed with Steven in the back. The seats were raised so they had somewhere to sit. 

During the whole ride to the house, Steven had his head resting on Garnet’s shoulder and tried to get himself comfortable. The boy felt so exhausted and the fusion didn’t seem to mind the extra weight on her shoulder. She took Steven’s hand into her own and started to rub it with her fingers to comfort him. 

The ride was silent. Nobody wanted to speak from what had just happened and it was probably for the best. Sitting in silence was a little comforting and one word would probably make it awkward. 

After a few more silent moments, Greg’s van was already driving on the sand on the beach. It rounded the edge of the rocks and stopped when they reached the front yard near the stairs. Greg put his car in park and got out to help his son. One by one, the gems unbuckled their seatbelts and piled out of the van. 

Garnet still had Steven resting on her shoulder so she simply picked him up bridal style like she used to do when he was younger. She slightly smiled as she looked down at the half asleep teen and wished that he was still the little cutie pie he once was. He was still a cutie pie but a slightly more mature one. Garnet was proud of how much he had grown up and will forever be proud. 

Everyone started to make their way up the stairs of the beach house and inside. Garnet still had Steven in her arms and was about to walk up to his bedroom when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She turned around to see Greg looking back up to her with a little disheartened expression. 

“Uh..could you possibly call me if anything comes up? Or just let me know if he’s okay? I gotta get going for work tomorrow and I don’t think I could sleep tonight without knowing of Steven’s well-being,” Greg said, rubbing the back of his bald spot on his head.

Garnet had no intention of not letting Greg know. She could even tell him right now that everything will be fine when he wakes up. She was the one to trust when it comes to knowing what’s going to happen.

“Of course we will, Greg. From right now, I don’t see anything going wrong for him. He’s going to wake up with energy tomorrow and you can be there to see him,” she said in a reassuring voice. 

This seemed to have lifted a huge weight off of the man’s shoulders and he sighed with a smile. He knew that he could count on these three to keep his son safe and sound. They always had and always will. 

Each Crystal Gem silently hugged Greg and then he was on his way back to the Wash. Garnet went upstairs while Pearl and Amethyst still lingered in the kitchen. Amethyst sat down on a bar stool and Pearl decided to brew some tea for herself. She didn’t like eating but did like to drink green tea every now and then. It seemed to have a calming effect on her and right now she needed that. 

Garnet made it up to Steven’s room and went over to tuck him into his bed. She pulled back the soft comforter and other sheets and gently placed him down. Then she pulled the covers over top of him to give him some warmth. She wanted to undress him and put him into pajamas but at the same time, she didn’t want to disturb him. 

The boy looked peaceful in his bed. His eyes were closed and Garnet watched the rise and fall of his chest from breathing softly. Hopefully he was dreaming of good things. 

Garnet could now only stare at Steven with pride. She sat down to look at him.

“_Look at our little man, all grown up_!”  Said Ruby. “ _First he was unable to go on missions with us and now he changed the minds of the rulers of an empire_!”

Sapphire had to agree with her wife.  “_He sure has come along way_.”

The fusion sat there for a good minute until she realized that she was doing the same Pearl used to do when she watched Steven slept. She knew it was a little disturbing and slowly got herself up from the bed without trying to make Steven stir. 

Then Garnet leaned down and gave the boy a small kiss on the cheek. Small sparkles appeared when her lips left his skin, signifying that she gave him future vision temporarily.

“Night, Steven. Hope that you see that your future’s bright. Sweet dreams,” she said, quietly going down the stairs of his room and went into the kitchen. 

Amethyst still sat down on a barstool and had her elbows resting on the kitchen counter while Pearl leaned against the fridge with her tea mug in hand. She gave the purple gem her tea bag since she knew she liked to eat them..even though Pearl thought that was a bit repulsive. They both looked up to see their leader approaching.

“Is he sleeping?” Pearl asked with a low whisper. She couldn’t get what happened earlier off of her mind. It was awful what Jasper tried to do...she didn’t want to see a copy of Malachite. 

Garnet adjusted her star shaped visors and answered,” Mhmm. He’s been out like a light ever since we got here. He should be okay.” Just like Greg felt, the weight was lifted from both Amethyst’s and Pearl’s shoulders. They were relieved that Steven was okay.

“I still can’t believe what Jasper tried to do! I mean, you’d think that after being in Rose’s fountain that she’d be at least a little more...sensible?” Pearl said, taking a sip from her mug. 

Amethyst chose not to speak about this. She was trying to give Jasper a chance. She was a sister to her after all. The purple gem gave it a little thought and changed her mind of not speaking.

“I dunno but whatever what was going on through her head, it wasn’t right and she needs help. Maybe post corruption probably messed with it and wasn’t entirely her fault? Maybe we could still help her?” Amethyst said, desperately trying to not let the blame fall on Jasper. 

Garnet wasn’t convinced. She simply let out a small huff and answered, “She was probably just angry that Steven changed Homeworld for the better. She was loyal to the empire after all so why wouldn’t she try to hurt him?” 

Amethyst was about to argue when she decided to keep her trap shut. She also decided she didn’t want to speak of this anymore so she hopped off of the stool and walked on over to the temple door.

“I think I’m done talking about this. Night guys.”

The door’s purple gem glowed to signify Amethyst was going to use it and opened for her. She stepped into her messy room and the door closed shut.

Garnet and Pearl both looked at each other. Without saying anything physically, they both mentally told each other that maybe they should go to their rooms as well. 

The Universe house became quiet after everyone had gone into their private quarters.

Everything was quiet except for Steven’s room. 

The teen was starting to toss and turn in his bed, grunting every so often. Garnet’s kiss did make him look into his future but it wasn’t very bright like she said it was. 

-ENTERING STEVEN’S DREAM-

Steven stood in a lightless space. Everything was dark, silent, and empty. He started to walk around to see if this darkness was endless. After a few more steps here and there, he came to the conclusion that there was no walls or edges.

“Hello? Anyone here?” Steven called to the void, his voice echoing as if he was in a cave. He would’ve shouted echo but right now he did not feel the need to be silly. He felt the need to get out of wherever he was. 

Steven didn’t really like to be alone, especially when it was pitch blackness and echoing. 

“Steven!” A voice shouted in the distance. It sounded like Garnet.

“Garnet? Garnet where are you?” Steven called out and started to run towards the sound. There was no answer. “Hey! Garnet!”

“Steven let us help you!” Pearl’s voice echoed throughout the blackness. It was coming from the same direction of Garnet’s voice.

“Pearl? Help you with what? Are you in trouble?” Steven was very confused but kept running. “I’m coming!”

Suddenly, he saw them. Steven saw the three Crystal Gems in the distance. Amethyst glowed purple, Garnet glowed a magenta and Pearl glowed white. All of them had their weapons summoned and at the ready. The looks on their faces were a mix of worry and fear.

“Guys? Guys what’s wrong? I’m right here!” Steven called to them but it seemed like they did not hear him at all.

Then, two bright lights flashed above them. They all crouched a little in fear of what was to happen. A large figure stepped out from the darkness and the appearance made Steven’s eyes widen.

“Whoa...what the hell?”

The figure wasn’t a gem or human, he wasn’t exactly sure what to even call it. It had a large purple body with spikes protruding from its skin and pointy horns on its head. Large fangs were in its jaws and sharp claws in his feet. It’s eyes were dark with pink and diamond shaped pupils. The monstrosity also had a tail and body that reminded Steven of a dinosaur. 

Was this a gem dinosaur? As cool as that sounds, Steven was even more shocked when he noticed something off about this creature. It’s nose looked human. 

“Guys what is that thing?” He asked, forgetting that he wouldn’t get an answer. 

Garnet’s apparition stepped forward with her gauntlets raised. “Steven! We don’t want to have to do this! Please stand down!” She called out to the creature.

_Wait....did she call that monster **Steven**_ ?

The monster ignored her pleas and let out a deafening roar, signifying that he wasn’t going to listen. He took a step back and pawed at the ground like a bull ready to charge with full force.

A tear was shed down Garnet’s face and she, too, posed a ready stance. “I’m sorry, Steven.” She started to run towards the monster with her gauntlets still raised. The other gems took off running behind.

Steven couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

_What were they doing?! They’re gonna get hurt! Dream or no dream, I don’t want to see this happening! _

He started to run towards them with arms stretched out.

“Guys no! Don’t do it! Stop!” 

His cries did nothing to prevent them from stopping, nor did it stop the monster from lifting up a paw and slamming it down once the Gems got close. Instantly, their forms poofed away with a bang and smoke clouds formed. Four gems landed on the ground and rolled from the inertia still moving them. 

Steven only gasped, shocked that only stepping on the Gems would make them poof. He knew they’d reform and be okay but was still shocked nonetheless.

The monster looked down and didn’t seem quite satisfied with what he had just done. He started to sniff the air and instantly, his head snapped in the direction of Steven. His eyes glowed brightly again and he growled.

_Uh oh. Wait a minute-theres no time to be scared, Universe. Man up! He just poofed your friends? What are you gonna do about it?_

“I’m gonna fight for them.”

Steven pushed his fears aside and summoned his shield with a wave of his hand, determination written on his face. 

“Pick on my friends, huh? Why don’t you pick on someone your own size! I ain’t afraid of you, Barney!” He yelled. “Come and get me!” 

This seemed to make the monster even angrier. He lifted his head high and let out another deafening roar. Then the monster started to charge at Steven, tail swinging wildly as he stomped.

The teen mocked the creature’s roar and also charged with his shield raised. The distance between them started to close in with each bound. It was all or nothing at this point. 

They were both only an inch apart from each other, making Steven think that he was really going to ram himself into this thing. 

But then the unexpected happened.

It opened its menacing jaws wide and clamped down on him.

Instead of being crushed by the weight of the monster’s jaw, Steven phased through it as if it was only a hologram and fell to the ground. He landed in a puff of smoke, choking on some of the particles that entered his immune system. 

The smoke suddenly started to feel like poison as he breathed it in. It burned his insides and he seethed in pain.

_What the hell?_

The dust started to clear up and then the burning started to stop. Steven could finally breathe normally again. He gasped for proper oxygen and took his time regaining his strength.

“What...is going..on? Is it over?”

** _Oh Steven. It’s far from over._ **

Before Steven could question again, he felt another sharp pain in his body. It hurt even more than it did before. He heard his joints crack and bend in impossible ways. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and tried to hold his head, his body, anything. 

Holding his body did nothing as it bended and snapped. Horns and spikes started to sprout out on the top of his head and body, making it feel like he was being impaled. 

Large fangs sprouted out in his mouth, blood seeping from the gums. Sharp claws extended from his fingers and Steven watched in horror as they grew.

He grabbed his head again, only to feel the nails dig into his scalp and caused blood to bleed out. Instead of screaming, Steven let out a loud roar in pain. 

And then, he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to sleep what am I doing. But I had to write this because I’m hooked.
> 
> I’m starting to hate how the chapters look with the awkward paragraphs but I see very writer do that so if it’s easier to read then I’ll keep it.
> 
> Personally, I feel like the worm monster is really like a huge dinosaur with big feet. Idk the thought of a worm creeps me out I don’t like wormy things lmao
> 
> I was lowkey inspired by Stranger Things when Will tried to tell the mindflayer to go away and then the thing just went inside of him with all of that dust going inside. That part kinda spooked me.
> 
> Onto the next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven’s dreams now constantly play over and over again. It’s an endless loop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: ITALICS ARE THOUGHTS 
> 
> Sorry this one was a bad chapter. Promise next one will be better.
> 
> And hey I know my story is pretty bad but this is my first time writing a SU fic. I honestly don’t know if I’m that good of a writer but I always have ideas. So if you got friends who need stories to read, then it’d be great if you told them about this story. I hate to self promo but I honestly thought that this would get more views than it has since the corrupted Steven AU is so popular. Not to sound greedy at all! 
> 
> But I’m sorry if this fic isn’t like top tier. I’m trying.
> 
> DID ANYONE SEE THE NEW SUFUTURE PROMO? IM SO HYPED! DECEMBER 7TTHH!! Wait shit that’s around finals..

Corrupted!

Chapter 7:

Shaken by his dream, Steven shot up from his bed with his eyes wide and his hands gripping his covers in fear. Sweat was rolling down from the top of his head and shivers went up and down his spine. His heart pounded like a drum and thumped in his ears.

Steven still had the covers in his hands and then quickly looked down at them when he realized that he had hands.

_Phew. No claws. Just a dream, Steven. Just a dream_. 

He put a finger into his mouth to make sure that he didn’t have any protruding fangs either. 

Nope. The teen’s teeth were still flat except for his canines. Good. Humanly normal. 

_Just a dream...a really bad one._

He looked around to see that he wasn’t in that pick blackness anymore. He was still in the safety of his room. It was still pretty dark outside and his Cookie Cat clock read 3:20 on its teeth. 

_Ugh. Still night. Still more hours to sleep..if I can that is. _

Steven didn’t feel that tired since he still had a little bit of adrenaline flowing inside of him. He tried to fall back asleep but then the thought of having another nightmare made him sit back up. 

He wished that he didn’t have to sleep like the gems..but then again, Pearl dreamt of things when she tried to sleep. He didn’t want his dreams to be broadcasted like hers did.............especially some certain ones that shouldn’t be seen by another pair of eyes. 

Steven was about to try to get comfortable again when he felt something a little less comfortable on his legs. He looked down his sheets and realized he still had his jeans and Greg’s tank top on him. 

_Garnet probably didn’t want to undress me to disturb me. Hm. How thoughtful of her._

He slipped out of the covers and off of the bed, his sandals hitting the hardwood floor. The boy looked down at the shoes and slightly groaned a little.

_She could’ve at least taken these things off..._

Steven lazily kicked off the sandals, the pink shoes flipped off of his feet and slapped down to the floor. Now that he was barefoot, he walked over to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer which held his pajamas, underwear, and socks.

He figured since it was only 3 in the morning that he didn’t need to get fully into his matching pajamas so he unzipped his jeans, threw them off along with the black shirt and then slipped into comfy shorts and shirt. 

_Much better._

Steven walked on over to his bed and climbed back into the covers to try to get some rest. Maybe since he dressed into comfier clothes that he will fall asleep easier. 

_Or maybe I’ll dream of something positive this time._

He closed his eyes and surprisingly enough, Steven drifted away into siesta in no time. His consciousness started to shut down and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep started to take over. 

-ENTERING STEVEN’S DREAM-

Instead of finding that he was in the dark void again, Steven found himself in a new place that was more familiar to him. The air felt cold around him, the wind blew flower petals and they landed softly on the ground by his feet. 

He was in the garden on top of a warp pad. Pink Diamond’s garden, his mother’s, to be exact. The place looked exactly how it did when he and Spinel were here together. All of the plants were either dead or overgrown. The marble pillars and ground were crumbling with cracks in them. Grass and vines sprouted around them from being unkempt for several thousand years. 

_Why am I here of all places?_

Suddenly the ground shook underneath Steven’s feet, making some rocks rattle and dead plants shake. There was a loud thundering boom in the distance and he made no time to waste to check it out. 

Steven took a step off of the warp pad and ran down the marble stairs that led up to it. Some of the stairs crumbled after his weight was on it, scaring him a bit. 

The booming sound became louder and louder as he came closer and shouting soon accompanied it.

“Steven! Please just listen to me!” It shouted, echoing. It sounded like Spinel. 

_Why would she be here? Didn’t she hate this place?_

The boy caught up to see Spinel standing a few meters away from the big monstrous dinosaur creature. She didn’t have her weapon summoned like how the Crystal Gems did in his previous dream.

_Wait...why is he back?_

Spinel walked a bit closer to the monster with her hands held up to ease him. She was trying desperately to put on an assuring expression on her face.

Steven wanted to stop her so bad. After seeing what happened to the Crystal Gems, he couldn’t bear seeing Spinel go through the same pain. He wasn’t sure if she would hear him but there was nothing wrong in trying.

“Spinel, don’t go any closer to him! You don’t know what he can do to you!” He shouted. Spinel didn’t bat an eye, almost as if she was ignoring him. She wasn’t though. None of the apparitions in his dreams were aware of his presence. The pink gem continued to move forward slowly.

“Steven..remember how you were goin’ on ‘bout how I can make a big huge change? Remember how ya sung a whole song ‘bout it and I got annoyed and then..” she paused for a moment and cringed slightly. “...hit ya with a big fist?”

Spinel waited anxiously for a reply from the monster but he only glared at her with his black eyes with pink diamond pupils. The pink gem had to resort to other tactics to make him understand. 

“Heh..silent type, ain’t ya? Funny how when I first met ya, you were always chatterin’ and seemed ta be full of excitement. And now...you’re a big huge...thing,” Spinel wasn’t the best at things like this. When it came to making others feel better, she usually had to use jokes and tricks to crack a smile. Only now, she had to console Steven not to be a monster with words. 

“C’mon, Steven. You ain’t a monster in my eyes..please understand that,” Spinel’s voice started to tremble. “A brawl is surely brewing..but we don’t have to fight.”

The monster didn’t look like he was going to reconsider anything. He let out a deep growl from his throat and looked like he was ready to pounce. Spinel’s face went from understanding to disappointment. And then it turned into a darker one with her brows furrowing.

Spinel, even though this is only a dream, please get out of here. 

Steven couldn’t stop Spinel from reaching into her gem and pulling out the rejuvenator. He couldn’t stop her from activating it with a push of a button. He couldn’t stop her from saying, “Fine. If that’s how it’s gonna be, then this match is about to get red hot. It’s on!”

The monster opened his mouth wide and roared loudly, shaking the garden by its sound waves. This didn’t seem to have shaken Spinel, however. She started to whip the rejuvenator the same way she did a few months back at the lighthouse. Then both the monster and pink gem were charging at one another with high speeds.

Steven was forced to watch the monster version of himself thrash and bite Spinel. She seemed to have fought better than the Crystal Gems previously, but the monster was still stronger in every way. He thrashed with his tail, slashed with his claws, and stomped with his feet.

After a few more moments of fighting, the monster finally had Spinel at her weakest point. She was down on the ground, badly bruised and beaten with the rejuvenator lying next to her. A shadow grew overtop of her and she looked up to see the monster’s giant foot above. 

“Heh..guess that’s all folks,” she laughed slightly and then closed her eyes to brace for impact. The creature did not take this moment to hesitate and then stomped on Spinel’s form, instantly poofing her into pink smoke. 

Similar to his other dream, Steven attempted to confront the creature with anger flowing inside of him. Similar to his other dream, the monster decided to attack him. Similar to his other dream, he became the monster. 

And that was how Steven spent the rest of his night.

Over and over he watched his friends fall at the hands of the monster. Over and over he watched him fight himself and then take over his body. Over and over he felt the pain of transforming into a beast. 

These nightmares were a message playing on loop. 

It was like a record player couldn’t stop playing the same verse over and over.

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. 

He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to wake up. 

“AAAHHH!”

The boy shot up out of his bed finally. 

_ Was it over? Am I awake? _

He looked around his room again to see that it was now light outside. Steven sighed with relief.

_Finally. It’s over._

** It’s far from over, Steven Universe. That was merely a preview. A preview of my entertainment. Shows about to start. Don’t be late. **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay sorry that this chapter seemed bad. Honestly it was painful to write. I had so many great ideas but some didn’t work and I wanted to move on from this one. I love the idea of Steven’s dreams are all wacky and meaningful so I tried to do that? I guess?
> 
> I wanted to add spinel in sooo badly cause I love her. I can imagine her having like a New York accent since Sarah Stiles (her voice actress/goddess) lives in New York. Plus I can imagine her breaking the fourth wall like Bugs Bunny. I literally can’t stop drawing her you should see my sketchbook 
> 
> I’m so busy now with stuff and I feel bad for not being able to write. 
> 
> If any of you caught the Cuphead and Zach Callison references, I love you and I wish I could hug you.
> 
> Onto the next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and the gems play a friendly game of football but the hybrid’s emotions get the best of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: ALL THOUGHTS ARE ITALICS. ALL WORMY THOUGHTS ARE ITALIC WITH STRIKES
> 
> Okay I’m sorry if this chapter is bad. It was actually annoying to write cause I was thinking “gee what the hell was I thinking.” Plus I’m sorry it took so long to upload, I’m on break w my fam. Oh how was your thanksgiving (if you celebrate)? I probably gained weight!
> 
> AND WAIT I HAVE ANOTHER PERFECT FIC IDEA TELL ME IF YA LIKE IT: Set in the 1920’s, Spinel is part of the mafia and has Pink Pearl, a dancer, by her side. A tragic love story filled with action, cheesy 20s slang, booze, swears, and fun

Corrupted!

Chapter 8:

The morning sun shone through the sliding glass doors of Steven’s room, giving it a nice and comforting glow. This would’ve been comforting if the half gem had some decent sleep and instead, he slightly cringed when he saw the light like a vampire. 

Last night was incredibly rough for him. All of those nightmares kept his adrenaline going, making him unable to sleep peacefully. Steven wondered why he was having them. He was absolutely no stranger to weird and cryptic dreams but having them consecutively and having the same terrible outcome was something to sit and wonder about. 

_Maybe it’s time I should invest in seeing a therapist. Wait who am I kidding? They’d probably think I’m absolutely nuts and lock me up_! 

“Probably for the best...” Steven said his thoughts out loud, his voice a bit raspy. He tried to clear his throat and then realized he needed to get ready for the day. The teen didn’t want to get out of his bed since he was exhausted but knew he had to. 

_I’m Steven Universe, ambassador and protector of Earth. There’s no slacking off for me. As much as I’d love to lay in bed all day, there’s always going to be more work for me to do. _

He sighed and slowly rose out of bed. He reached his arms up to the sky and stretched, feeling muscles in his shoulder pop slightly. He then bended over to touch his toes, his lower back and hamstrings popping as he did.

_ Thank god I can finally reach these things. Heh, it was a bit harder when I was younger with that belly of mine.  _

Sure he didn’t have a good sleep, but stretching seemed to make Steven feel slightly better. Still tired, but more limber. He decided that was probably good enough and walked over to put on his cookie cat slippers and went to the stairs to get ready for the day. 

As Steven went down his stairs, he heard the front door swing open. A purple hand was pushing it and Amethyst poked her head in the doorway.

“Yo Steve-O! Hope your bright eyed and bushy tailed right about now cause we’re gonna go play some football outside!” She whooped. “Better your A-game, dude, cause my team’s gonna crush yours ta bits!”

Steven made it at the bottom of the stairs and walked up to the purple gem with a smirk on his face and his eyes narrowed. He got close enough that their noses were almost touching to add to the competitiveness. He lifted a finger and poked her chest. 

“Oh ho ho no, that’s where you’re wrong, my dear Amethyst. Once my team steps out into the field-I mean sand, you’re gonna wish you never were born,” he said with a playful snarl. 

Amethyst laughed and looked the boy up and down, noticing that he was still in his pajamas. The cookie cat slippers only added the heat to her next burn. She flicked off his finger and put her own on his chest. 

“Heh, not so sure we’ll be wishing anything of the sort of you plan on wearing  that.”  Amethyst watched him move his head down to look at his outfit. She then saw this as the perfect opportunity to do the ol’ “what’s that on your shirt?” trick and flicked Steven’s nose, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. 

It took him a moment to realize what Amethyst has just done to him. He looked at her again with his still surprised look.

_ Did she just...oh no she didn’t! _

<strike> _ Hurt her. _ </strike>

For some odd reason, there was a tiny part of him that wanted to something a little more back to Amethyst than just flicking her with his own finger. Something with just a little more...what was it...oomph? He wasn’t sure but it was a bit more aggressive than what she pulled off. 

_ Wait no, what am I thinking? That’s stupid, it was just a flick!  _

<strike> _ No it wasn’t, she was taunting you. Get back at her! _ </strike>

Steven pushes the bad thoughts back down deep into his unconscious where they belonged and simply laughed back. 

“Well lemme just get ready and I’ll show ya what you’re in for!” He said, turning around to head to his bathroom. Amethyst stuck her tongue out in response. She took the hint that Steven would be out to play soon and headed back to join her team on the beach.

Steven opened the door to his bathroom and stepped inside. There were some clothes in his hamper, he made himself a mental note to wash them....but his teenage brain had already thrown that note out into the trash. 

_I’ll just leave Pearl to do that. She likes to be productive anyway_.

He didn’t care about eating breakfast at this point and grabbed his toothbrush and paste to start scrubbing. The hybrid teen squeezed the pouch of toothpaste onto his brush and then began to brush his teeth. His mouth instantly started to taste the minty fresh flavor as the bristles glided against every molar, premolar, incisor and canine. After another minute of vigorous brushing, Steven spat his mess of spit and tooth paste. 

The next step of his morning routine was washing his face. Normally he did this at night but washing it in the morning always made him feeling more refreshed if he didn’t shower already.

He squirted a few pumps of his face wash and grabbed a red wash cloth that was hanging on a rod against the wall. Then started to run the water with both the wash cloth and the soap, creating bubbles. Steven brought his face down to the sink and scrubbed around. It felt nice to be under the warm water and the soap bubbles added to the comfort. 

He scrubbed all parts of his face from his cheeks to his forehead, above the nose to underneath. Everything seemed to be clean after one last final scrub. With his eyes still closed, he rinsed off the soap by cupping the warm water in his hands. Steven grabbed a towel to dry off and rubbed to get every last drop of water. 

The boy lifted his head to the mirror and the towel stopped its rubbing. He opened his eyes but then immediately was taken back by what he saw through them. 

“Huh?! What the?!” He gasped. Instead of looking back at eyes that were white with a brown iris, Steven saw black with a pink shaped diamond. He quickly brought his hands to his eyes to rub them furiously. Once he figured he rubbed enough, he stopped..but was afraid to lift them off. 

_Come on, Steven. You’re just seeing things. You’re tired from no sleep. You’re only seeing things._.

He tried to convince himself that he wasn’t seeing what he had just saw in the mirror. The boy mustered the courage to slowly and shakily take off his hands from his face. He opened one at an even slower pace to look at the mirror while the other remained shut. 

_Wait a minute_.

Both eyes were open this time. Both eyes looked okay in his reflection. Neither of them were black and pink. They were both brown and white. Normal.

_ Oh thank stars. _

Steven sighed and then began to laugh a little. He felt so stupid! 

_ See? Just seeing things! You don’t have strange eyes! It’s okay. You’re fine. _

There wasn’t anything else to do for his morning routine except for getting dressed and he had to go back to his room to do so. Steven opened his bathroom door and walked out. He was about to go up his stairs when he heard a voice call to him from the kitchen.

“Good morning Steven!” Pearl said, standing with a plate and towel in her hands. “How..did you sleep last night? I wanted to check on you but I know you wouldn’t have wanted that since you asked me not to watch you sleep anymore, heh..”

Steven slightly chuckled at that, remembering how Pearl would stand at the base of his bed while he slept. He also remembered trying to teach her how to sleep but that ended up rather strangely. 

“Umm...well..”

Then another thought came to him.

_Should I be honest with her? Should I tell her about my eyes and my dreams? Maybe she could help!_

<strike>_Maybe you’d be the burden like you always are_</strike>.

_ No, I’m..I’m not a burden. Butmaybe I shouldn’t worry her. _

“Uh yea I slept fine! I guess last night really wore me out so I was out like a light!” Steven said, lying through one of his trademark smiles. He hoped that his smile would sell Pearl that he was okay. He could hear his heartbeat pick up in his ears. This long awkward pause between them seemed to take ages as Pearl looked the boy up and down.

The tall gem’s eyes narrowed as she wasn’t sure he was telling the truth but then decided to give up. She nodded her head.

“Good. I’m sure Amethyst told you she wants you to play a game outside so if I were you, I’d get ready.” Then another thought came to Pearl.

“I don’t want to baby you anymore like I used to but please be careful out there. You already had to deal with the Diamonds and then Spinel so I think that’s enough work to tire you out right now,” Pearl said, turning back to her dishes. 

<strike> </strike>

<strike> _She’s wrong. She shouldn’t be treating you like this, you’re much older._ </strike>

Steven rolled his eyes at her parenting and waved a hand. He was a little annoyed that she was still telling him this stuff especially when he was at this age. He knew how to look after himself. 

“Pearl, just stop it. I don’t need you to worry about me. I’m 16 now, I think I can handle a tackle here and there from Amethyst.” He began to walk up the stairs to his bedroom to get changed. “Hell, I’ve taken down space tyrants and managed to calm an insane Betty Boop who were both about to destroy a planet. I can pretty much handle anything at this point,” he said, slightly with a snarl and continued walking up the stairs. 

Pearl almost dropped the plate she was currently drying when she heard what Steven had said. It felt like someone had taken out their weapon and cracked her gem on her forehead.

_Did Steven....really just say that? My Steven? Our Steven?_

She looked to where he was once standing to scold him and found an empty living room. She sighed in defeat and disappointment. 

She wasn’t sure what to think at this point. She didn’t know what to put the blame on. Was she being a little overprotective like always? Or was Steven still a kid that needed to be handled? 

“I think that music’s changed you, Steven,” the tall gem silently speaking to herself. She knew that wasn’t the real thing to blame but maybe if she made herself believe that it was the music Steven had sang, it would make more sense to her. But it didn’t. 

-UPSTAIRS-

Steven rummaged through his clothes in his dresser, pushing the old red shirts he used to wear aside. There was a lot of them in the drawer.

_ Geez why do I own so many of these? It’s kinda ridiculous. _

He groaned slightly to himself as he couldn’t find anything he wanted to wear. It shouldn’t have been this hard to find something since he literally owns the same shirt in the same color and size, but that wasn’t really appealing to him at the moment. 

At the corner of Steven’s eye, he spied the black shirt he wore last night sitting on the floor next to a pair of jeans. He walked over to it and picked it up. The boy’s eyes looked at the shirt for a little while, feeling the shredded fabric where the sleeves once were. He liked this shirt. It was different from the ones he usually wore that had bright colors. This one was obviously darker but the sleeveless trait gave it a certain edge. The added plus to the shirt was that it used to be his father’s when he used to sing. 

Steven made up his mind and slipped on the black shirt, putting each arm into the sleeveless holes. He then put himself into a pair of jeans, his pink varsity jacket, and then finally his red flip flops. 

-OUTSIDE- 

Peridot, Garnet, Bismuth and Amethyst were all outside on the beach with a football. They had invited a few other gems from Little Homeworld so they could have fun while learning some of Earth’s games. The sun was shining but wasn’t providing the same heat that it would in the summer. It was currently fall in Beach City, making it slightly chillier but that didn’t stop the Gems from playing a friendly game of tag football. 

Amethyst had just recently watched a game of it on a Sunday night and a spark of inspiration flickered inside of her. After watching the Rittsburgh Iron beat the Empire City Kings, the purple gem knew she had to teach the others to play. 

She wore black face paint streaks across her cheeks to make her seem like she meant business. And for her, business will be boomin’ today. She couldn’t wait to crush Steven’s team and rub it in his face.

Amethyst walked over to Lapis, who was kneeling on the ground with the football standing on its top and the other part was on her fingertip. This was the way a kicker would hold the football, as the blue gem was taught by her. 

“Hey, Lapis. Watcha doin,” Amethyst said, her hands crossed behind her head casually. 

Lapis adjusted the ball that was between her fingertip and the ground, making sure that it was stable to stand. 

“Gonna make Peridot kick this thing, I wanna see if her little legs can make it go far,” she answered. “They do this sort of thing in that game you watched, right?”

Amethyst nodded her head. “Yep that’s how they do it. Oh wait I think I have the perfect thing to do!” She leaned in close and whispered a few words to Lapis. The blue gem’s expression turned into a devious one. 

“Heh, that’s mean but I’ll do it.”

The purple gem gave Lapis a wink and a thumbs up. Then she shouted over to Peridot, who was speaking with Bismuth and Garnet

“Yo Peridot! Wanna kick the football?” Amethyst shouted. Peridot stopped her conversation and looked over to see what she was talking about. She made one of her puzzled yet annoyed faces.

“You want me to let that fabric air sack become a projectile? What for?” Peridot asked. 

Amethyst and Lapis both rolled their eyes. The whip wielder answered, “Uhh cause it’s fun? Lighten up a bit, Peri.” 

As if on cue, the beach house’s door swung open and Steven Universe came out. “Hey everybody!” He called and walked down the stairs to join the others.

“Aye Steven! Watch Peri punt this thing. Betcha she can’t kick it past that hand statue over there.” Amethyst pointed to the stone hand that had finger tips sticking out of the sand a few meters away. 

Peridot couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Her brows furrowed and one of her fists clenched.

_ They were mocking me? Ha! I’ll show them that they will regret it! _

“Oh so now you’re going to place wagers on my athletic abilities, huh?” The small green gem stomped angrily up to Amethyst and poked a finger against hergem. “Well I’ll show you that I could probably move that thing across a galaxy! Just watch me! Lapis, better get yourself ready for this!” 

Lapis let out a small snort and did what the green gem told her to. She watched Peridot, who backed up a few feet and dragged them across the sand like an angry bull that was ready to charge. 

All eyes were on her. She lifted her arms and pounded her chest like an angry ape. Then Peridot let out a primal roar and started to take off on the sand towards Lapis. Her feet made a loud clattering noise even tho she was on sand, making the situation more comical.

The blue gem pulled a small smirk as Peridot got closer and got ready to grip the football. The certified kindergartner got close enough to lift her foot from the ground and expected for it to meet the football as she swung. Except she expected something that wasn’t ever going to come. Her leg only met air instead of pigskin.

Lapis pulled the football away quickly as Peridot swung her leg. The green gem’s eyes widened as she couldn’t control the next motion of her leg. She was surprised that her kick was so powerful that it let her whole body fly up into the air. Peridot flew for a moment, even performing a sloppy backflip while shrieking. Gravity took ahold of her and pulled her back down to Earth, making her land flat on her back with an thud and oomph. Pain shot up and down her back.

There was an abrupt silence until everyone, excluding Peridot, on the beach started to laugh. The small gem started to blush and groan as she was embarrassed. Amethyst, still laughing, walked up to Peridot and held out a hand to help her get up from the sand.

“Oh man that was funnier than I thought it was gonna be!” The purple gem said as she helped Peridot get up. She received a glare from her. 

“You planned this?! You planned to make me look like a fool?” Peridot said angrily. Her teeth became sharp and she waved her arms frantically. “I’ll kick you to the moon if I have to, you clodheads!”

“Yea..kinda. Heh but no worries, Peri. It was all in good fun,” Amethyst snickered and shrugged. “Alright lets start this thing! I call captain! Steven, you can be one too!”

Steven didn’t exactly want to choose favorites. He didn’t like the idea of choosing teams this way, fearing someone would have their feelings hurt. But he figured it was all in good fun and shrugged his shoulders, then stood next to Amethyst to start picking his team. 

The purple gem pointed to Bismuth, who’s eyes lit up with excitement and ran to join her side. “Alright, Bis! Let’s wreck this joint!” She high fived the smith. 

Steven playfully put a hand to his chin. “Well chosen, Amethyst. Buuut your Bismuth is no match for my....” he paused for dramatic effect and lifted a finger to point at Garnet. “Garnet!” The fusion listened and walked over to the hybrid, then ruffled his hair. 

This went on for a minute. Both Steven and Amethyst picked their teams of four. The boy created his of himself, Garnet, Peridot, and Snowflake Obsidian. Amethyst chose herself, Bismuth, Lapis, and one of the Famethyst, 8XG. She fist bumped her captain as she was picked.

They flipped a coin to determine who’d have the ball first. Amethyst chose tails while Steven called heads. The coin landed tails up and the purple gem pumped a fist in the air in triumph.

She then walked up to the teen and got in his face with a smug look. “Better get ready, Steve-o! Imma squash you like a buuug,” Amethyst mocked, pretending to smash a bug by colliding her fist against her hand. 

<strike> _ She’s mocking us again! Do something! Crush her harder. _ </strike>

Steven’s eyes narrowed and he slightly smirked back. “Heh, well...this bug’s gotta pretty bad...uh stinger!” He wasn’t the best at banter.

<strike>_Dumbass_</strike>.

Amethyst chuckled at his lame attempt at trying to trash talk and patted his back. She went over to the football and handed it to Lapis, telling her she’d be the quarterback. The gem herself would take the role as being the running back, Bismuth was the right tackle and 8XG was the left tackle. 

Everyone got lined up and faced each other to start the snap. Amethyst faced Steven and made snarky faces at him, making the boy start to growl slightly.

<strike>_Stop her. Make her pay for mocking you_</strike>.

The teen’s lip curled down, exposing some of his teeth. He didn’t notice that his canine became elongated and snagged his lip a bit, causing it to bleed. 

“Lapis call the snap!” Amethyst yelled for Lapis, who rolled her eyes.

“Yea whatever. Snap.”

“No you don’t say snap, you gotta say like green-80 or set hut!”

Lapis rolled her eyes again. “Geez you’re really into this aren’t you?” She got herself ready to catch the football from 8XG’s snap. “Set...hut.” 

The amethyst threw it back to the blue gem, who caught it and started to move back to look for open gems. Amethyst was able to get around Steven’s defense swiftly and was moving outside of the pack. Lapis spotted her and launched the football out of her hand. It made a perfect spiral, despite this being one of the first times she’s ever thrown one. It was because of a gem’s strength that gave her an advantage. 

Steven saw the ball flying overhead towards Amethyst and started to run to her, feeling the adrenaline kick in. He was so close to her and tried to reach a hand out to tag her but he only tagged air. The overcooked gem managed to get passed him and caught the football in her arms. She ran with it tucked into her armpit until she got passed the line drawn in the sand. 6 points for Team Amethyst.

She celebrated in the end zone, dragging her feet across the sand as she did the running man-or running gem. “Uh huh uh huh uh huh! Go Amethyst Go Amethyst!” She dang as she danced. Her team ran over to join her in celebration. “Better crank it up to 11 soon, Steven! Or I’m gonna blast ya outta here already!” She joshed Steven, who watched the purple gem dance with an angry expression on his face. 

<strike>_Oh I’ll turn it up to 11 alright, Amethyst_</strike>.

The hybrid teen huffed and turned back to huddle his team up. Garnet, Peridot, and Snowflake walked up to the teen, all wearing concerned expressions. They saw how he reacted to Amethyst’s celebration.

“Are you okay, Steven?” Garnet asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He instantly swatted it away in anger. “If this is about Amethyst’s actions, don’t worry about them. That’s just her being herself. It was only one point, we can always score more-“

Steven rolled his eyes and interrupted her, “No. I’m fine, Garnet. Perfectly fine. Let’s just get this game over with.” He didn’t have anything to say to his team that would help them win. All he could was yell at them for not doing their roles as players. The other teammates looked at each other with worried expressions. They knew that the boy normally didn’t act like this. Something was wrong. 

Everyone got lined back up to start the next snap but this time, Steven’s team was on offense.

<strike> _ Finally. I’ll show you what I can do, Amethyst.  You won’t see it coming. _ </strike>

The hybrid teen chose Garnet to be the quarterback, thinking that she could use her future vision as an advantage. The fusion disapproved of this plan since she knew it would be cheating but Steven didn’t care. “We’ll use whatever we got,” he said roughly. 

Everyone got themselves ready and the ball was passed back to Garnet when she gave the signal for it to be initiated. Instantly, the gems rushed forward to each other. The opposing team tried to get in Steven’s team’s way while the latter pushed back. 

Steven was able to break free from the scuffle and ran into the open part of the “field.” Garnet knew he was open and released the ball from her grip. The throw was a strong one, spiraling perfectly in an arch that would make any football coach proud. It flew through the air and Steven was running towards his end zone with his arms open to catch it.

_Come on come on! So close_!

The ball was now in the tips of his fingers, making him believe that he had made the perfect catch when suddenly it was instead caught by a flash of rainbow. It wasn’t Steven that caught the ball, it was intercepted by none other than Bismuth. The large gem charged down the other end of the beach towards their endzone. Snowflake and Peridot barely caught up to her, being left in Bismuth’s dust. 

Everyone was shocked and their mouths hung open. Amethyst broke out of the surprised trance first and hollered loudly. “OHHH YEA BISMUUUTH!! BISMUTH IS BOOMIN!” She ran over to join her and hugged her. Bismuth only smiled and laughed at her.

“Oh that? That was nothin! You shoulda seen what I did back when everyone was fighting in Homeworld!” She said and spiked the football to the ground. The pigskin caved into the sand, making it stick perfectly. 

Steven, still shocked from what just happened,stood only a few centimeters from his endzone. He looked down to see that he was right at the drawn line. “You’re kidding me! I was right there!” He yelled, kicking the sand. Steven clenched his fist and growled more.

This was where he will draw his own. 

Garnet walked up to the enraged teen and didn’t decide to put a hand on his shoulder this time. “Steven, calm down. This is only a game. It’s only for fun-“

“THIS ISN’T JUST A GAME GARNET! AMETHYST MADE ME LOOK LIKE A FOOL! SHE’S MAKING US ALL LOOK LIKE FOOLS!” He yelled back and then turned to face the others that had just walked over. “YOU GUYS AREN’T DOING ANYTHING LIKE WHAT THE HELL!”

Now Garnet was getting a little angry as well. She grabbed his shoulders to make the boy look her in the eye. “Language, Steven! Listen to me! This is not the end of the world and you of all people should know that. Let’s just play along and have fun, okay?!”

Steven was about to protest. He opened his mouth but looked in Garnet’s visor. His reflection looked back at him with an angry look. His brows were furrowed, his teeth were bared, and his eyes were manic. It became softer when realization struck him.

_ Geez..I’m taking this too far, aren’t I?  No you aren’t, Steven. You need to prove that you are better than them. _

He couldn’t look at himself anymore. He couldn’t look at Garnet or anyone. He turned away and shook off the hands from his shoulders. 

“You’re right. Sorry guys.”

He walked back over to the others to start the next play, leaving his team behind.

Peridot looked up to Garnet with concern. She poked the tall gem’s leg to get her attention. “Is it just me or did you notice something rather strange about him?” She asked. Garnet didn’t look back down to her, she only casted her gaze to Steven.

“Yes. Something isn’t right with him.”

“No..well yes that is accurate but did you see the way his oral cavity appeared? His teeth didn’t look as horizontal as they normally do,” Peridot noted. “They looked...how do I say this..acute. If you need me to dumb it down for ya, I’ll say they looked sharp.”

Garnet readjusted her visor, still observing Steven. The teen was not acting like his usual bubbly self and that worried her. She wondered if it was something that only had to do with him being older or if something in the past upset him. A silly game like this wouldn’t put him on edge this much. It didn’t make sense.

Then again, Peridot’s observation also didn’t make sense as well. Garnet wanted to deny it but she saw it too. “I believe I did notice that, Peridot. As peculiar it may be, we still should keep a close eye on him.”

Peridot nodded in agreement. “Of course. I do have some hypotheses I would like to discuss but for right now, we have to play this sorry excuse for an activity of entertainment.” Garnet chuckled at her comment and they both started to walk towards the rest of the gems.

A half hour went by of the teams going back and forth of scoring and tagging each other. Steven’s team managed to catch up but there was an agreement of what the highest score would be needed to win. Both teams were at an impasse and only one more touchdown would let them be victorious. 

As the game went on, Steven felt his anger rise. This normally never happened to him. He knew he should be the kind and understanding person he always was but something wasn’t sitting right for him today. He felt such bitter resentment every time he saw Amethyst. Steven hated that she made fun of him and tried to remind himself that it was only to get him riled up for fun but it still managed to get under his skin. 

Part of him saw it as a threat.

Every time Amethyst’s team scored a touchdown, he got angrier and angrier.Every playful banter that was made, he got angrier and angrier. Every failed play, he got angrier and angrier.

Amethyst’s team had the ball this tie and Steven was not happy about it. Not to repeat words, but he was angry. 

Everyone got themselves ready for what might be the last play of their game. You could practically hear a heartbeat as a cliché since it seemed so dramatic. 

“Down, set, hut hut!” Lapis called and then caught the ball to pass. There was the usual scuffle of gems trying to make sure a pass wasn’t thrown to them or trying to get through to get passed. Amethyst broke free and was taking off towards her endzone, determination written all over her.

Lapis saw that she was open and let the ball loose from her grasp. Everyone watched it soar towards the purple gem in another perfect spiral. She caught it with a jump and turned to take off.

Steven saw the perfect opportunity to try and stop her from scoring another point. He, as well, took off running. 

_ She’s gonna score she’s gonna score she’s gonna score! _

<strike>_No she won’t. Get her_</strike>.

With every step Steven took, he huffed. If this were an old cartoon, steam would be coming out of his nose like an angry bull. He got closer and closer to Amethyst, he got angrier and angrier.

The purple gem was almost to the endzone when she noticed the hybrid teen behind her. She was about to blow a raspberry when suddenly instead, the wind was blown out of her. Steven had stuck out his hands in front of him in an attempt to push her down. They collided against Amethyst’s waist and they both fell to the ground with a thud. Sand picked up into the air from the impact, creating a dust cloud.

The play was stopped and the dust settled, everyone turned to see what happened. Steven was on top of his opponent with his hands pinned on Amethyst’s shoulders and his face hovered above her’s. He was breathing heavily with his teeth showing in anger. Amethyst could see the sharper canines and she raised an eyebrow.

_ What the hell? Since when did this dude’s teeth become so...big? _

She tossed that thought out and wanted to ask the real question that upset her the most.

“Uh Steven? What the heck was that for? Dontcha remember we were playing  tag  football and not  tackle ?” She said in angered tone. “What’s your problem man?”

Steven still breathed heavily and only stared back into her eyes. The other gems had circled themselves around the pair, unsure of what to do in this situation. The teen didn’t care about them. He only cared that the predator had brought down the prey.

<strike> _ I got you now, Amethyst. No more making fun of me. I’m the one that’s the bigger one here. _ </strike>

_Wait a minute..what am I doing? What came over me? They’re all looking at me. Are their weapons drawn? _

He took his eyes off of Amethyst and looked around him. Everyone had their hands up as if they were preparing themselves to summon their weapons but were still unsure if they should. They all had tense faces. Steven then looked back down at the gem under him. She looked a little scared and that broke his heart.

“I...I Uh...” he couldn’t put the words together. He released his grip from Amethyst’s shoulders and slowly got himself up from her. 

_Maybe I should get out of here. _

Steven didn’t waste any time to turn around and run up the beach towards the stairs of the beach house. He almost tripped going up and slammed the front door as he through himself inside.

Amethyst still was lying on the ground with a confused look on her face. Everyone hadn’t moved their frozen stature. Nobody was sure what to do. Everything was silent.

“Well that was...interesting!” Peridot said, breaking the silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to compare Steven’s emotions like a hormonal teen but also a werewolf. If you’ve seen Teen Wolf, then you’d know what I’m getting at. If ya don’t, there’s a dude named Scott who plays lacrosse and he can’t control his emotions bc he’s a werewolf. The best way for me to describe his angry feelings was through a physical sport like football. They did tag football cause it’s obviously not so physical as regular football but Steven’s emotions got the best of him and he made it physical. Amethyst was only playing around when she tried to push his buttons but I tried imagining myself cause I’m sensitive and I get PISSED when my siblings pick on me. 
> 
> Yo if I was a werewolf I don’t think I’d be able to control myself. But that would be awesome tbh.
> 
> This next chapter also goes along with Teen Wolf but I’ll warn you, it gets more physical...or sexual.
> 
> If you caught that reference in there then I love you. If you also caught the football team reference I love you but I apologize for the really bad description of the game. I watch football and I like it but I don’t understand shit lmao. I only know teams, my hometown team (Pittsburgh Steelers fuck yeaaa) and some players. 
> 
> Well alrighty then. Onto the next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven and Connie watch a movie together but things get a little more heated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: SOME SEXUAL CONTENT IN THIS THAT I AM BAD AT WRITING
> 
> NOTE: ALL ITALICS ARE THOUGHTS FROM BOTH STEVEN AND CONNIE. ALL ITALICS WITH STRIKES ARE BAD EVIL THOUGHTS
> 
> Hey why am I still awake? I should be sleeping so my big brain can rest for finals (lmao what big brain). So sorry that this chapter is late. I was making it in my notes on my phone but my stupid fingers hit that create a table button and a buncha stuff happened and I somehow deleted EVERYTHING that I had already written. I wanted to throw my phone away because I liked what I wrote.
> 
> The wormy corruption thoughts are just anti everything to Steven. He wants to kiss her but wormy boi says no let’s fuck her. Steven wants to play football but wormy says no I want to rip heads off. He feels bad for everything in the past but wormy boi says you are literally the worst and you are a burden. So it’s like Steven is Eddie Brock and wormy boi is Venom or he’s a werewolf. 
> 
> ALSO DID YOU SEE THE FIRST EPISODES?! HOLY SHIIIIITTT IT WAS AWESOME! I loved Volleyball that was prob one of my favorite episodes. The pink Pearl and pearl fusion was GORGEOUS and oh my god it was just amazing. But that doesn’t destroy my Spinel and Pink Pearl ship ;)

Corrupted! 

Chapter 9:

Steven used his foot to barge into the door of the beach house. It created a loud noise and caused Pearl, who was putting dishes away in the kitchen, to jump in alarm and almost drop a plate. It fumbled in her hands, constantly flipping and flopping. 

“Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!” She squawked as the plate tumbled. After one last flip of the china, Pearl caught it and brought it close to her chest so none of that would happen again. She sighed in relief but it was brief, for she had to yell at the teen for making such loud noises.

“Steven! Did you really have to barge in like that? I could have dropped this perfectly good dinnerware!” Pearl shouted to Steven, who had already ran up the stairs. The tall gem groaned and set the plate inside of the cupboard above her. “Why do I even try? Never works with Amethyst, why would it work with him? Raising a child, they said. It’d be easy they said.”

The hybrid would have apologized to her for causing such a raucous but had more important matters to attend to: his emotions. Everything felt so frazzled and unbalanced. He had to sit down somewhere and slow his thought process down to a normal pace. His eyes frantically searched around his room for a nice quiet spot and landed on the sliding glass doors that led to his balcony.

Steven immediately flung himself forward and his hands reached for the door’s handle. With his incredible gem strength, he thrusted the door to the side, almost completely shattering the glass as it came back to close. 

There was a chair that rested against the far right wall so the stressed teen threw himself into it. His heart pounded in his chest and his mind raced rapidly.

_ Calm down, Steven. Just...focus on something else. Focus on what’s around you. Breathe. _

Steven looked up to take in the scenery that was around him, trying to focus on one thing at a time. The ocean smelled salty and bitter from the ions of dissolved minerals of carbon dioxide. It was a familiar smell that usually brought happiness to him because he knew when he smelled that, he was home. 

He heard the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and retreating back to the sea. The squawks of seagulls was overhead and the fall breeze blew around him. 

All of these things were happening around the teen and he tried his best to focus on every one of them but it was still challenging. The thoughts still clashed in his head. Guilt and anger still stuck with him. 

_ I hurt Amethyst physically. I hurt Pearl emotionally. I scared the other Crystal Gems. What am I? That isn’t like me. I’m not a monster! How am I ever gonna apologize to all of them? _

Steven brought his knees up closer to him and rested his arms over top of them. He put down his head against his arms, trying his best to shrink as if it would help.

<strike> _ You are a monster. _ </strike>

He picked up his head from his arms and looked around in confusion. Was someone with him on the balcony? Was someone behind him? The hybrid checked behind him to look into his room. Nobody was in there. He looked beside him and down below to the ground. Nobody was there. Why did he hear a voice? Why was it so loud?

I<strike>_’m here, Steven. I am you._</strike>

“Huh? You can’t be me! I’m me and I always will be!” He said angrily. “Show yourself, I’m not afraid!” 

<strike>_You should be. Everyone should be afraid of you. That runt deserved to be pushed down. That paper thin weakling deserved to be talked down to. Everyone deserves to be afraid of you because you are a monster and always will be_</strike>. 

Steven stood up from his chair with his teeth and fists clenched. “No! None of them should’ve been treated that way! I am not a monster!” It seemed to be pointless to be arguing with himself. He must’ve looked crazy shouting on his balcony. 

<strike>_Oh? So you aren’t a monster? Well, you most certainly are a BURDEN. Every person you know has to save you because you’re the one that’s weak. Think about it. Every time that you are in danger, your pathetic excuse of a family has to come rushing in and pick up the slack that you couldn’t handle_</strike>. 

Steven brought his hands to his head and clenched his hair between his fingers. He couldn’t listen to this anymore. It was all too much but the thoughts kept coming. The voice kept speaking. 

E<strike>_very problem that comes to Earth, it’s always your fault. You try so hard to fix everything but deep down, you know that you can’t. Yes, It was Pink Diamond who had various gems against her. Yes, she did hurt a lot of innocent lives but it all comes back to you because you’re her son. You are her. There’s nothing you can do to change that, Steven Universe. Or dare I say, _</strike> <strike> _ Pink Diamond _ </strike> .

Steven growled with rage and still held onto his head, his nails death gripping his hair. It hurt. The voice felt like it was piercing his brain with a thousand knives, constantly cutting and slicing. Every word spoken stung and he bared his teeth in pain. It was like he was getting slashed by Spinel’s rejuvenator. He had to make it stop somehow. 

“ STOP IT. I AM NOT PINK DIAMOND. I AM NOT MY MOTHER! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”  He yelled loudly, his voice sounding a bit demonic with a growl. He didn’t care if someone heard him outside. All he cared was the voice hearing him and obeying. 

Instead of listening, the voice started to laugh. It sent chills down the hybrid’s spine. It sounded exactly like his own voice but he couldn’t call it “mine.” 

<strike>_So innocent. So loving. So STUPID_</strike>. 

Steven let out a roar that came deep within him and turned quickly to punch the wooden wall next to him. His fist made contact and the wood caved in, making a large hole from his gem strength. A few splinters stuck to his hand when he pulled it out. 

** “ JUST GET OUT ** !”

Suddenly the teen heard a voice behind him that scared him half to death. 

“Steven?! A-are you okay?” 

Steven turned around and gasped to see Connie standing between the sliding glass door with a shaken expression on her face. She was clutching a drawstring bag a bit tightly in fear and confusion. 

The hybrid’s face softened from being angered before. He never heard his friend come in.

_ Oh shit did she hear everything? When did she come up here? Did I scare her too?! No Connie please don’t be scared of me. _

Steven quickly shook the splinters off and gingerly leaned against the wall, trying to cover up the whole he just made and to seem like he totally wasn’t falling apart. He put on one of his trademark smiles and laughed falsely. 

“Oh hey there Connie, uh ahem what’s up?” He winked, hoping she’d buy it but even he knew he wouldn’t if he was her. 

Connie raised an eyebrow and ignored his “what’s up” to question why he literally made a huge whole in his house.

“I think I want to know what’s up with you before I say why I’m here.” 

_Dang why does she have to be so smart all the time? I mean not that it’s a bad thing I love that she’s intelligent and I love her-Wait what_?

Steven had to come up with a lie that would possibly be bought but he knew that trying to trick Connie was like dividing by zero: impossible. He will try anyway.

“What’s up with me? What do you-ohhh you mean why there’s a big whole in my wall? Well ya see, heh, it’s a funny story. I was chilling out here and there was this big fly on the wall. It was pestering me so much that I got mad and...punched a whole..in wood,” he said, flashing a fake smile. Yeesh, Steven could do much better than that. “I guess I don’t know my own gem strength? The bug is dead now, by the way. May he Rest In Peace.” 

Connie had an unamused and unconvinced look on her face. She didn’t buy this at all but playing along might be best. Normally she would egg him on if he wasn’t telling her something but the girl really wanted to do the thing that she was here for instead. She nodded her head and answered with a hint of joking around in her tone. 

“Uh huh. Well that definitely answers that. I’m here because I wanted to..drum roll please..” the girl started to dig in her bag and brought out a dvd case. The cover had lots of purple colors on it and super heroes in various poses. “Watch a movie? Sorry I came in unannounced. I kind of wanted to surprise you plus I was in the mood to watch a movie. So then I thought why not watch this incredibly amazing movie with you!” 

Connie handed her dvd to Steven, who took it and looked down at the cover. It was the last movie of that series and it was one of his favorites from it. It had a sad ending which he, of course, cried at but he wasn’t the only one that did. Actually, he cries in any movie that he watches so this was nothing new to either of them. Whether it’d be a movie with a puppy, wedding of a couple or a death of a minor character, Steven Universe would cry. 

But none of that mattered to Connie, she loved this movie and really wanted to watch it with him. She waited for his answer. 

_Should I say yes to her? I’m not exactly in the best mental state right now since I just tackled a family member to the ground and punched a whole in the wall. I don’t want to snap at her..especially not Connie_.

Steven looked back up to Connie, who had a hopeful face on her. He could’ve sworn she was doing puppy dog eyes but that could’ve been his imagination. 

_Wow...she’s got beautiful eyes_...

He finally made up his mind, smiled to his friend and gave his answer.

“I wasn’t feeling so great earlier so yes I’d love to watch a movie with you, Connie. Maybe this’ll make me feel better,” he said. “We can watch it here in my room. I’ll pop up some popcorn and grab some sodas.”

Connie’s face lit up as if it was Christmas morning. It felt like it was better than that. She smiled wide with her mouth and eyes.

“Okay! I’ll get the TV set up!” She said excitedly. Steven nodded and handed back the dvd case so it could be started up. Then he turned and went downstairs to go to the kitchen to look for some food to snack on. While the half gem did that, Connie walked over to the tv sitting on the floor. She kneeled and pressed the ejection button for the disk holder to slide out. It came out by her command and the dvd was put in the cartridge, then put back inside.

The tv screen took a second to show the menu screen for the movie. There were options to either play the movie, select scenes, go behind said scenes, or watch bloopers. The play button wasn’t pressed just yet.

Once that was finished, Connie stood back up. She crept quietly over to the staircase to look down into the kitchen. She could see that Steven was waiting in front of the microwave and the sound of popcorn popping in the distance.

No Steven upstairs equaled that the coast was clear for Connie. She put a hand to her mouth and exhaled, then sniffing the air to make sure her breath wasn’t smelly. Thank god that her mother’s dinner from last night didn’t have too much onions in it. 

She then made sure that her hair looked neat and the rest of her didn’t look like complete trash. If it was then hopefully Steven wouldn’t mind. 

I_ know Steven is my friend and probably the most kind, caring, understanding...cutest..person in the galaxy but...he’s a boy! And I’m here alone with him and watching a movie! Who wouldn’t make sure that they didn’t look like they just woke up from a thousand year nap? _

Connie started to realize that she was probably overthinking things and mentally slapped herself. 

_I can do this! I can totally watch a...3 hour and 2 minute long movie with Steven...completely alone on his bed..all comfy_..

Her face started to heat up a little and a light blush formed on her cheeks. Connie couldn’t help herself that she was nervous to do this. She wanted to crawl into a while for 6000 years and never come back. She wanted to pack her bags and say “that’s it!” She wanted to say that she quits cause she knows what’s gonna happen. 

What’s going to happen right now is that Steven is already coming up the stairs with a bowl of popcorn and two cans of root beer in his hands. 

“Aaalrighty then I got the popcorn and I found some root beer in the fridge and thought it’d be nice to drink. Haven’t had it in a long time. Did ya get the movie in yet?” He asked, setting the popcorn bowl and sodas down on his nightstand next to the bed. 

Connie nodded and went over to sit down on the bed. “Uh huh! Movie: set, popcorn: popped, sanity: not ready to watch this emotional movie but that doesn’t count! I think operation watch a movie is a go.” 

Steven smiled and giggled lightly. He loved it when she talked like this. He walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. “Well then, Captain Maheswaran, shall we embark on this mission?” He joked.

“Affirmative, Universe Man. Everything and everyone is assembled.” Connie said, pressing play on the remote. The movie had begun and the teens got themselves comfortable for the next 3 hours to come. 

It was hard to get in a good position because they didn’t wantto be too uncomfortable but they also didn’t want to invade each other’s space. They constantly apologized for even the smallest bumps of shoulders or hands. If Amethyst was around, she’d probably make fun of them for how silly they were acting and should just kiss already. 

They wanted to...but not now.

A good half hour went by in the movie and the teens were captured by all of the scenes. They laughed at the many funny parts and bit their nails at the edge-of -their-seats parts. Frequently, when one of them reached for the popcorn bowl and the other was also, their hands would bump together. Since both of them were raised to be polite, they apologized and insisted that the latter take the popcorn. The other would refuse and give an “after you!” 

This went on for quite some time in the movie and then it was decided maybe they should keep the popcorn away for a bit. Their faces were constantly heating up from embarrassment of skin contact. 

While Connie was sheepish, Steven felt something more intense along with that. Every time their hands would accidentally touch, he felt an electric signal jolt through him. It wasn’t a bad feeling, it made him crave it a little more. His unconscious thoughts wished that it was something a bit further than just their hands touching but thank god those weren’t in his conscious. 

There came a part where two of the main characters in the movie fought each other so they wouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves. It wasn’t a fight for them to get hurt but rather to save them. Connie and Steven both knew that this was a heavily emotional scene and prepared themselves for the worst that was yet to come. 

The one character won the fight but they didn’t take it as a victory. They saw their friend fall down to the hard ground and die, crying at the sight. Connie’s hands shot up in reaction, tightly grabbing Steven’s arm and let out a small gasp. She didn’t even realize she had done that but the hybrid, oh he realized it alright. 

His eyes bulged and his face started to become red hot again but it also felt like he was frozen in place. He couldn’t move or think. It was almost as if his brain was a computer again and wouldn’t function right. Or there were little people in his brain running around, causing chaos while a siren blared. 

_Oh man oh man oh man she’s holding my arm! What do I do what do I do_???

<strike>_You know you wanna kiss her. Or maybe something more_</strike>.

....._More_?

<strike>_Yes more! More than just a simple little peck on the lips or cheek. C’mon, Steeeeven. You know you want more. You can’t deny what you feel in that specific place right now_</strike>. 

Steven lightly gritted his teeth, shifted his legs to cover, slightly groaned to himself. Stupid unconscious thoughts coming up to the surface. He didn’t want to scare Connie anymore than he already did before with the whole in the wall incident. He can’t do anything without her consent first and that was a rule he will always follow no matter who he was in a relationship with. 

But then again, it would feel sooooo nice to get that feeling off of his chest that his changing body craved so much but never bothered to follow through.

_Would Connie feel the same way about me? I don’t wanna pounce on her if she doesn’t and that’ll lead to something bad_.

<strike>_Who cares about what she feels. Only do what’s right for you_</strike>. 

_It isn’t that easy. I care about how she feels, hers above mine_.

Steven looked down at Connie next to him. She still had her hand clutching his arm but looked a bit more relaxed and comfortable. She even started to ease into his body as a pillow rest which made the hybrid teen blush even more. 

His brain started to flash images in his head, images that he would never speak about to anyone in his family because he knew he’d probably be shunned. The images were all what he desired to do at this moment to satisfy his craving but he knew it was wrong. So so wrong. 

<strike>_Why is my brain doing this to me? Why do I feel so strange right now? Is this puberty? I’m 16 I should’ve already been through this! Why does it feel so new_</strike>? 

It was like a monster was controlling his every thought and making the rating not so PG. It was whispering extremely uncomfortable things to him that he wanted to go through with. The monster sounded obnoxious and unbearably loud. 

<strike>_Kiss her_</strike>.

The thoughts kept coming like rapid fire.

<strike> _ Kiss her. _ </strike>

<strike>_Kiss her_</strike>.

<strike> </strike>

<strike> _Kiss her._ </strike>

<strike> </strike>

<strike>_Kiss her_</strike>.

Steven was starting to become annoyed by this feeling that wouldn’t leave him. He had no other choice but to shut it up. 

Next to him, Connie took her eyes off of the movie and at the boy next to her. She noticed that he was clenching his teeth and his eyes were tightly closed shut. Her eyes narrowed with concern and began to worry a little.

_Huh? Is he okay? Is the movie scaring him? He’s seen much scarier things than an angry purple guy snapping his fingers!_

_Are his teeth sharper or is it just me..?_

“Steven? Are you okay?” She couldn’t figure out a solution of why he was doing this. “Are you scared of the movie? I can turn it off if you want me to-“

Suddenly Steven shot up from his bed and quickly turned to Connie, startling her. His eyes were now fully open and looked a little desperate.

“Hey! What the?! What’s wrong?!” Connie asked, her face confused and surprised.

Steven didn’t answer her. He gently grabbed both of her hands into his and looked deep into her eyes.

_Go on, Universe. You’ve waited two years for this moment. Go for it. There’s no backing out now._

“Connie..I...” he started, his heart began beating fast. The fear of rejection was flapping like a fruit bat in his head. The butterflies in his stomach wouldn’t stop fluttering. 

The girl had the most worried look on her face and that broke his heart. She cares so much about him and that meant a lot..but he had to do this now.

Now or never.

“Can I...can I kiss you?”

At first, Connie didn’t say anything. Her face was a bit blank but inside, she was screaming loudly.

_Oh man oh man oh man this is NOT how I pictured this moment would go but oh man it’s happening! _

Her face pulled into a huge grin like it was Christmas morning and started to giggle at the situation. “I thought you’d never ask!” 

Steven was a little confused by what she said but had no time to think about it, for his friend had already pulled him close to her and their lips collided. He was taken back that she was taking charge but soon didn’t care as he melted into her. 

It felt like fireworks were exploding all around them, all of them were vibrant colors. Steven could practically hear a church choir singing “hallelujah.” 

Yes, they kissed before but this was a different kiss. Steven had gotten consent from Connie and that meant a lot to him. The first kiss at the concert wasn’t an actual kiss that they could fully enjoy. It was a goodbye kiss that was brief and acted on impulse. This kiss, in Garnet’s words, was an experience. It was a true kinda kiss. 

A true kind of love. 

Steven cupped Connie’s cheeks in his hands. They traveled from there to her hair and slowly down to her waist to bring her closer to him. Despite his lips against her’s, he felt like it was a breath of fresh air with a huge amount of relief. He was underwater for a long time before but this kiss was coming up to the surface and finally feeling the oxygen. 

It lasted for a few more seconds until the teens parted slightly to catch their breaths. They looked in each others eyes without saying a word. All they could do was stare in amazement.

“Holy cow”  Was all they could think about. 

Steven felt satisfied with what they both did together. The deed was done and maybe they could watch the rest of the movie together and just live in this moment. 

Except that satisfaction didn’t last long. He still needed more oxygen to breathe. 

  
He needed more of her. 

The teen’s heartbeat picked up its pace. He stared hungrily at Connie’s lips and soon traveled down from there to her neck, to her chest and further down south. Oh just one kiss would not satiate his starvation. 

Steven almost felt sorry for her. But right now he didn’t care. 

His mouth curved into a sly smirk, revealing some of his sharpened teeth which made Connie raise an eyebrow slightly. 

“What? What did I do-“ Her words were interrupted by Steven’s lips once again. She was taken back completely, not expecting for the boy to take charge. 

She couldn’t lie, she did like it but something felt a little odd. 

_ Why did he smirk like that? And most importantly, what happened to his teeth?! _

The kiss soon turned a little more aggressive from the hybrid. It felt like something in his brain unleash itself from its cage and was running loose, allowing itself to take control over him. He kissed every part of her mouth, even inserted his tongue a little bit. His hands, the hands that wanted to hold her and the ones that he used to possess, gripped to her back. His growing nails graced her skin, making her shiver. 

Connie was starting to become a little uncomfortable with this sudden aggressive change in her friend. She partially enjoyed it with making small moans but it felt so wrong. In between the kisses, she tried to speak but was constantly interrupted with another smooch. 

Steven enjoyed every moment of this except hunger kept growing and growing. Every kiss he planted wasn’t enough. He had to do more. He needed more of Connie. 

He ignored her when she tried to speak. He didn’t care what she had to say. He only cared for her. Her body. Her touch. 

<strike> _ Let’s try something a little different, shall we? _ </strike>

Steven smirked again and stopped kissing Connie, allowing her to catch her breath. Both teens breathed heavily and looked disheveled.

The girl in front of him looked a little astonished. Her eyes were wide and searched him frantically up and down. 

“Whoa..Uh..I was not expecting...all of that.. from you. Where did that come from?” She asked. Her hands were on her hips and traveled to her back, tracing the lines where Steven’s nails once were. “Did..you get a manicure or something cause your nails felt...different-“

Steven put a finger to her lips and made a shushing sounds. He leaned in closer to Connie and whispered, sending more shivers up her spine. “Let’s not worry about that now, okay? I just want you.”

He suddenly started to make the girl beneath him fall back onto his bed with him creeping on top. A smirk was on his face the whole time as he tried to kiss every part of her.

<strike> _ Oh Connie, how I’ve waited for this for such a long time. I want every part of you now. _ </strike>

His lips traveled from hers down to her chin, then her neck and chest. She gasped with every peck. 

“Ahh..Steven..” she tried to say his name. She wanted this to stop. This was too much for her. This wasn’t her Steven. This was someone else that was pretending to be him. “Steven.”

The hybrid ignored her, continuing to kiss her and they traveled over to her neck again.

“Steven!” Still, no answer from him. She could now feel his teeth against her skin and her eyes widened. A sharp sensation was felt and she had to get him off.

“STEVEN! YOU’RE HURTING ME!” Connie yelled and pushed the boy off of her. Steven couldn’t comprehend what was happening and landed on the floor with a loud thud. 

He shook his head and looked back up at the girl on his bed. The way she stared back at him shook him to his core. 

She looked scared.

“Steven..what...what was that?” She asked, her voice a little shaken up. 

_ Oh no. No, Connie..I didn’t mean to scare you! Please don’t be scared!Something...something took over me. _

“I...I don’t know...I wasn’t myself..”

“Well clearly you weren’t! What the  hell , Steven! I thought you weren’t like that at all! But I was wrong!” 

Connie started to stand up from the bed and pushed past Steven to the tv to take her dvd out. She angrily stuffed it back into her bag and turned to go downstairs when a hand grabbed hers. She quickly pulled away as she thought Steven was going to try something again.

“Where are you going? I thought we were watching that!” Steven asked.

“Not anymore, Steven. I’ll call you later-“

Unexpectedly, a voice from outside boomed. 

“STEVEN UNIVERSE! COME OUT NOW! I AINT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!”

At first Connie was going to complain about how much she’s been interrupted today but the fear settled in when she realized who’s voice that belonged to. She looked at Steven, who looked equally scared as she was.

“Don’t tell me..” she started.

Steven nodded. “Uh huh. Jasper.”

Looks like their chat about what just happened will have to be postponed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I’m not the best at writing smut like I have 0 experience. I tried to throw stupid references in to Inside Out, endgame, and big mouth. I tried imagining this scene like Steven being a werewolf because the emotions become so like overpowering. That’s what the corruption thoughts are. They are overwhelming. I tried to go with an approach like he feels pleasure but then that pleasure becomes more animalistic where he wants more than a kiss.
> 
> When I wrote this stuff down ( I have a whole list of ideas) it sounded so cool and a bit twisted and I liked it. But as I edit, I realize how dumb it was. I’m sorry this fic isn’t that great. Im new to writing SU stuff and it’s hard. I have another idea for another story that I hope you’d love. 
> 
> Just as an FYI, I have finals this week so I’ll be focusing on trying to not die and do good. The next chapter might be a bit late because I either haven’t gotten started on it or lack of motivation
> 
> Well as always, on to the next chapter!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper is back for more but Steven’s corruption continues.
> 
> NOTICE: ALL ITALICS ARE THOUGHTS. ALL BOLD WITH STRIKES ARE SIGNS OF CORRUPTION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO BOY DID I HATE FINALS! So sorry that this was a bit late, I wanted it to be finished earlier but I studied my ass off for finals (and not so satisfied with the outcome..). I’m on break now which might be long and that means I have more time to waste on this fic! 
> 
> I feel like this chapter was hard again to write. The ideas I had looked much better in my head and written down (I have a list of ideas I made) but I’m not so sure if this was good. I wanted to make Steven all angsty (like how he is in SUFuture WHICH I LOVED) and it’s hard . I liked using some of the lines in the show because they worked so well with what I’m trying to convey I guess and plus Zach Callison’s music is also incorporated in it. If any of you catch some of the lyrics that’s awesome

Corrupted!

Chapter 10:

Steven and Connie both look at each other with concern. In their minds, they knew that they’d have to drop whatever just happened and worry about it later. Right now, they had a bigger problem on their hands and it was one that was big, muscular, and angry. Neither of them had to speak to each other to know that decision was made. 

Steven felt incredibly guilty on top of being concerned. He had no idea what happened to him while they were kissing. It was like some other entity took over him and he had no control. All other sounds were blocked except for the voice that told him to pounce. He didn’t mean to take over Connie like that and push her out of her comfort zone without her wanting him to. It only happened once but the hybrid vowed he would never allow it to happen again. He didn’t like this feeling and most certainly didn’t like how he made his friend feel. 

He could picture the looks of shame and disappointment from the Gems if they knew what he did. He didn’t want to picture how his father would’ve reacted. He could live them them being mad at him but he couldn’t live with his best friend being upset. Steven prayed to every god in existence that this little incident didn’t mess up their relationship. He wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to leave him.

Even though both hybrid and girl were on the same page, Steven wanted to apologize to her with what little time they had at the moment. He put a hand to the back of his head and gripped his hair. Connie didn’t even wait for him, she was already going to fly down the stairs to the outdoors when Steven spoke up.

“Look Connie..” he started to say. The girl was about to take another step down when she heard him speak but didn’t look back at him. She kept her eyes towards the door. 

“I just wanted to say that...that I’m sorry for earlier. I-“

“Steven, we both know that we should save this later. Right now we have a bigger problem on our hands,” Connie interrupted him, her voice cold. “But that doesn’t make what happened earlier any less.” 

Her words stung like acid and he could feel himself shrink in his letterman jacket. Steven wanted to argue more but he knew that it was true. 

“Fine.” He said, making his way down the stairs and going past her, not looking back up at her. “Let’s just deal with this.” He wanted to deal with it by himself at this point. He wasn’t sure if they were going to have to fight but Connie didn’t seem to have her sword with her. She couldn’t defend herself if anything bad were to happen. Luckily, he had his powers back and the Crystal Gems were still around. Hopefully they could come to peaceful terms with Jasper. 

But deep inside of him, part of him wanted to fight her. 

The two teens pushed the door open to the outside and rushed downstairs. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were already at the beach along with Peridot, Bismuth and Lapis. They all didn’t have their weapons summoned but Steven could tell they were just itching to lay a gauntlet or sword on Jasper’s physical form. 

The soldier, on the other hand, was standing a few feet away from them. She still had the horns on her head and green scars from her previous corruption. She still had that bloodthirsty grin and malicious eyes.

Steven made his way up to the front of the pack of Crystal Gems and stood in a defensive stance. He could feel the anger and annoyance heating up inside of him. He had to deal this without any conflict. He couldn’t have a repeat of earlier. They would constantly be going back to square one where they would fight and not get any common ground established. He wanted to move this match of theirs up to square four where they wouldn’t be having the same problem over and over again. 

Y<strike>_ou know you want to bash her head in. You know you want to watch her beg on her knees for your forgiveness. You know you want to shatter her gem completely. It’ll get rid of her. Once and for all_</strike>.

“Jasper, before you go on a huge rant of how much you’re devoted to my mother and how I’m a weak earthling on a puny planet, can you please tell us why you decided to come back and show your face?” Steven said in a flat tone with a completely unamused look on his face. 

His comment shocked the Crystal Gems and Connie. They all looked at him with surprised expressions but didn’t say anything. Even Jasper was taken back a little bit but it only made her smirk a little more. She snickered and took a step closer.

“Wow I didn’t know you could say such things. Gotta admit I’m a little amazed but not enough,” Jasper laughed. She kept walking forward until she was only a few feet away from Steven. “I’m here because I wanted to finish what I started. I don’t like to keep my victories unaccomplished, especially not the ones that I can easily obtain. Especially not the ones where you’re my opponent.”

Steven rolled his eyes slightly and groaned. He didn’t really want to have to deal with Jasper’s anger management issues. “I’m not going to fight you again. Don’t you have anything better to do? Like, I don’t know, go back to Homeworld and accept that things have changed for the better around here?” 

Jasper snorted through her gem which was oddly possible and waved a hand. “Believe me, I’d much rather go Homeworld than stay on this pathetic excuse of a colony but like I said, I don’t leave my battles finished without a clear victor.”

“Look, Jasper, like  I  said, I am not going to fight you. If you want to let your emotions out, we talk about them on earth instead of using our fists.”

Deep down inside the teen, there was a beast that wanted to be let out of its cage. It didn’t want to be civil and talk things out with Jasper. It didn’t want to use words. It wanted to be free and let hell break loose. It wanted to put this gem in her place and watch her form shatter into tiny bits. The beast growled and grumbled as it was tied to its shackles in the caverns of Steven’s brain. 

He knew that violence wasn’t the answer but it could always serve as a back up plan. If Jasper wasn’t willing to cooperate with him, he had an extra solution that would surely get her the hell out of dodge. 

Steven took a few steps closer to Jasper when a hand with a blue ring stopped him from going any further.

He looked back and saw that the hand belonged to Garnet, who had a worried look in her eyes even with her visor covering them. “Steven, do not take another step further. We don’t know what Jasper is planning but we do know is that we don’t want another repeat of earlier,” the fusion said in a firm tone. “Can you please stay behind us where it’s safer?”

Steven looked into her eyes and narrowed his own. 

<strike>_I don’t need her protection. I don’t need any of them to shield me. I’m my own shield_</strike>.

He grabbed Garnet’s hand and threw it off of him with slight aggression. His eyes remained narrowed in on the fusion’s three.

“I don’t need to, Garnet. What I need to do is stopping Jasper from hurting anyone else. I’m fine right where I am,” he barked back with a slight growl, surprising Garnet and the other gems and human. “I’ll do it by myself.”

Pearl’s voice rang in his ears, “Steven don’t you dare! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

Amethyst’s voice joined in, “Dude, she isn’t worth it! She’s going to crush you!”

Steven started to growl, getting angrier with every single comment that was spoken. 

<strike> _ Can they just stop it? Gotta make it stop! I can do this! _ </strike>

<strike> ** “ ** </strike> <strike>**STOP IT! I CAN HANDLE THIS, YOU GUYS! I CAN FIX THIS ON MY OWN**</strike>!”

His harsh words stung the Gems, they stared back at him with hurt expressions as if he shattered their gems.

He turned back around and continued to move toward Jasper. He could feel his anger festering inside as he kept his eyes focused on the soldier. Her eyebrow raised as she watched him approach and she smirked, making him get a little angrier.

_<strike>You know what? Screw this. I’m tired of being nice. I just wanna go apeshit on her stupid smug face</strike>_. 

Steven clenched his fists and raised them to get ready into a fighting stance. He stopped when he was a few feet away. Jasper’s smirk turned into a wicked grin and she laughed.

“Well well well look at what we have here! I thought you said that you use your words instead of fists on Earth!” She said, mocking what Steven said earlier.

<strike>_She’s mocking me_</strike>.

“I may have said that, but that doesn’t go for everyone here. Not for me.”

Steven didn’t even give Jasper a chance to get herself ready, he had already taken the first punch. His fist, not having a bubble around it to cushion the blow, connected with her stomach, making her let out an oof and her body recoiled from his diamond strength. The Crystal Gems and Connie gasped as they watched the hybrid punch Jasper with bare fists. 

Each punch that was landed made Jasper move along the beach, throwing her body from each direction. Being a trained soldier that she was, she tried to watch the way that Steven fought so she could get the upper hand of the fight. She’ll allow him to think that she was affected by him but then she will unleash her fury. 

The orange gem noted to herself that the teen wasn’t using any of his defenses like his shield or bubbles, making it a possibility that she could land a hit easier. She also noted that he seemed to have gotten angry easily with his friends.

“Hm, maybe emotions can be an advantage for me after all,”  she thought to herself as another fist connected against her stomach. “ Gotta admit it, this kid has really shown that he isn’t someone to mess with...which is exactly what I like to see in an opponent.”

Steven was about to take another left hook to Jasper’s jaw when he didn’t notice a large fist swing down and come in contact with his left side. Pain shot through his body as it stumbled a little, shaking his thoughts. While he was off balance, Jasper saw this as the perfect opportunity to use her foot to kick the teenager to the sand. He landed with a mighty thud, kicking up sand as his body made contact with it. 

Steven waved a hand to move the dust out of the way so he could see the now incoming orange fist that collided against his nose, pushing him back down. He could’ve sworn that he felt the tendons and muscles snapping but the pain was too immense for him to think of what happened. However, he did feel the blood dripping from one of his nostrils. 

_Gee, I wonder when was I ever punched in the nose like this before_? 

“STEVEN!” The Crystal Gems and Connie yell. They spring forward to help the teen off his feet when they were stopped by Jasper’s large and muscular body in the way. 

“Back off, Crystal chumps! Let him handle this on his own.” She growled but then snickered. “Heh if he can!” She turned around to face Steven, who was still trying to get himself up but was knocked back down with another powerful kick. Jasper laughed even more as she watched the teen struggle.

“Maybe I shoulda let them help you because that’s what they always do, don’t they? They always have to come saving your butt!” The orange soldier placed her foot down on Steven’s chest. She wanted to place it down by his gem to try to poof him but saw no fun in ending the battle early. She enjoyed watching this earthling attempt to fight. Jasper pushed her foot down harder on the boy, causing him to try to grab onto it and push it off.

Jasper was enjoying this way too much. A wicked grin was spread across her face and laughed as Steven struggled under her boot. He growled and snarled, baring his teeth. Jasper didn’t notice the teeth, she was too focused on beating this lump of dirt.

“Come on, weakling! Come on and show me the so called savior of the galaxy! Show me that you don’t need to rely on your friends!” She shouted at him. Steven didn’t reply, he only stared back at her while growling. “Oh wait that’s right because you DO need to! You’ve always been a burden to them. Just because you have my Diamond’s gem doesn’t make you equal to her!”

Her face got closer to Steven’s and she smirked. Her plan to get the teen riled up was working. Watching him growl and shake under the strength of her foot was satisfying. 

“It only makes you more pitiful.” 

Steven couldn’t take it anymore. He felt angrier than he did before. Every emotion inside of him was replaced with rage and he couldn’t contain it. 

I_ don’t need my friends to save me. I don’t need them. I’m not a burden._

He cannot contain his rage. 

He cannot contain his rage.

He cannot contain his rage.

He cannot contain his rage. 

I<strike>** CANNOT CONTAIN MY RAGE**</strike>.

The teen started to feel something else besides anger inside of him. The top of his head started to feel strange like something was trying to rip through his skin. It was starting to hurt more than Jasper’s foot on his chest. He growled as the pain grew and grew, just as the horns started to grow and grow. The orange gem saw this and her eyes widened in surprise. 

“Huh?” Was all Jasper could say. 

_Did I do that to him...?_

For Steven, his eyes were closed until he finally found strength. 

They flashed back open but instead of being white with a brown iris, they were black with a pink diamond shaped iris. They stared back up at Jasper filled with fury. 

Steven started to pushed against the force of the foot on him, his claws digging in. 

“ ** <strike> I </strike> ** **<strike>.</strike>**..” he forced the soldier off of him with an enormous amount of strength, sending her body flying backwards and hitting the sand. He charged towards her on all fours, fangs bared and claws unsheathed. 

“ <strike>**AM NOT**</strike>..”

He took one step to launch himself upward to strengthen his next move. He clenched a fist and swung as hard as he could towards her gem on her nose. 

“ <strike>**PITIFUL**</strike>!”  The sound of his voice was a mix between a human and animal. It was a yell and roar combined. It sent shivers down the audience of gems and a human nearby. 

Steven’s fist made contact with Jasper’s gem. It was hard enough to make it cave into her form and poofing her instantly in a cloud of orange smoke. The teen was engulfed in it, only showing a shadow to the Crystal Gems and Connie. They never noticed the horns that grew on him before. 

The smoke cleared, revealing a very angry looking teenager and an orange gem in the sand. His dark eyes were narrowed, claws extended, his teeth bared as he heaved heavily, and his horns sharp. They all gasped when they saw his appearance. 

Nobody said anything. It was all quiet. You could cut a knife through the tension.

Pearl’s hands covered her mouth, Garnet’s visor taken off her eyes, and everyone else’s eyes were widened and jaws dropped. Connie, however, looked heartbroken. 

“S-Steven...?” 

The hybrid kept breathing heavily, his shoulders moving up and down with every inhale of oxygen and exhale of carbon dioxide. He looked down at the orange gem in the sand and picked it up to examine it. 

“ <strike>**Not so high and mighty now, are ya**</strike>?”  He said quietly and smirked, flashing a fang. 

His eyes moved from the gem in his hand to the other Gems in front of him. They all still had the same looks on their faces which made Steven feel a little confused. They all looked like they wanted to approach him but it was almost as if he was sick and extremely contagious; getting sick wouldn’t even be a problem to the gems, though. 

He raised an eyebrow and started walked towards them but they moved back with every step he took, avoiding him. 

“Uhh guys? Why are you backing up from me? Jasper’s gone! We don’t have to worry about her anymore!” He said, trying to reassure them. It didn’t do anything, they still looked scared. He was getting annoyed. 

“Can you stop looking at me like that? You’re acting like I’ve grown horns or something, heh!” Steven laughed and rested his hand on his head but instead of feeling his skin and hair, he felt something entirely new. “Huh?” His hand started to feel around the new shape that was on his head. It felt long and sharp, almost crystal-like. 

The teen’s heart almost stopped. 

“No..what is this..” he started to quiver.

Another shaky hand moved to the other horn, feeling it up and down to make sure he really wasn’t feeling what he was feeling. The Gems held their breath, not uttering a word as they watched the hybrid examine his body.

“No...”

His shaking hands left his head and his eyes looked down at them. Steven realized that he had long black claws growing instead of nails. They looked jagged, sharp, and mean. They were ready to cut anything, anyone. His arm had purple splotches of scales and were on his exposed skin in his legs as well. 

T_his isn’t happening_...

_ This isn’t happening... _

_ This isn’t happening...  _

_This isn’t happening_...

<strike>_But it is, Steven_</strike>. 

Steven looked back up from his body to his family in front of them. The looks on their faces broke his heart. They wanted to help him but were unsure how. 

“I...” 

_ I gotta get out of here. Now. _

Steven’s hand let go of Jasper’s gem, letting it fall to the sand. His feet turned around and sped him towards the beach house, up the stairs and inside, leaving the Gems still shocked. 

The teen tore through the front door like he had done earlier but this time he actually made it fly off its hinges with his newfound strength. He didn’t care. He had to leave. He couldn’t stay any longer and be a danger to the others.

His dark eyes caught sight of the warp pad meters away by the temple door. He wanted to spring forward and warp away. He wanted to warp himself far away from here as possible but then one of his eyes caught sight of something else. He turned his head to see the portrait of Rose Quartz hanging over the stairs. She looked so peaceful in it with her eyes closed and her lips curled into a small smile. Steven didn’t feel so peaceful with this portrait.

He had been meaning to remove the picture because he didn’t like her hanging over their heads but right now was probably the best time to do it. He started to growl as he stared at her longer. The longer he stared, the angrier he got. 

Steven started to slowly make his way to the picture with his fists clenched. 

“You know, mom...none of this would’ve happened if you were here. None of this would’ve happened if you made peace with all of those gems.” His voice started to become deeper as he got closer. “ <strike>**NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF I WAS EVER BORN! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, MOTHER! YOU MADE ME THE MONSTER I AM NOW! I..I HATE YOU**</strike>!” 

His claws grabbed a hold of the frame and lifted it off of the wall. He turned around and slammed the portrait against the stairs, causing it to shatter into tiny pieces. Steven let out a mighty mix of a roar and yell which made the house shook. 

The deed was done. Rose Quartz...Pink Diamond..his mother..was no longer hanging over his head. He could rest. 

_Wait a minute the rest are gonna come looking for me! Gotta go. _

As much as he wanted to admire the work he did, he needed to get going. Steven sped down the stairs on his hands and feet like an animal towards the warp pad. He heard footsteps coming up the beach house steps and quickened his pace. He landed on the smooth crystal surface of the warp pad and looked towards the front door..or front hole now. 

The three Crystal Gems, Peridot, Lapis and Bismuth had made it up the stairs. Connie was in the front of the pack. Steven gave one last look to them and then warped away without a word, leaving them standing in the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter might include Spinel (aka my favorite child). Speaking of her, I can’t stop drawing her and I want to meet her voice actress, Sarah Stiles, so freaking bad. I was in NYC for a day during thanksgiving break and I actually wanted to see her (obviously I didn’t). BUT I might or might not see Tootsie! (A musical Sarah is in) GOD I WANT TO MEET SARAH SO BAD. She seems like an amazing person with so much energy and I fucking LOVE IT. HER VOICE IS AMAZING AND IF I GET TO HEAR HER SAY ONE OF SPINEL’S LINES ID PROBABLY DIE. Wait a minute does this mean I have a crush on a 40 year old? No. I have crushes on people like Zac Efron and Channing Tatum so that doesn’t mean I like 40 year old women. I just wanna meet her so bad like how someone would wanna meet...idk Ariana Grande. SAME THING (wow I congratulate you if you’re reading this)
> 
> Also speaking of Spinel, I wanted to ask if you guys would be interested in reading my mafia fic? I haven’t written it yet but I was thinking of having it go up soon as I wrote Corrupted but I don’t wanna ruin the process of this fic. I might write a little but not post it, I will after this one is done maybe. Now that I think about it maybe I’ll write a prologue and see what you guys think just so I can have ideas down and if you guys would be willing to read.
> 
> In this chapter, I kinda wish the fight was better but fighting scenes just seem hard to write. You can picture them well and watch them (like Steven and Jasper’s fight in future) but having to write them in words is hard. I’m not someone that like idk boxes (which would be so cool tho) so I’m not entirely sure of fighting moves that would be easy to put in words. It’s hard to make it flow, make sense to the reader and make sense to an actual fight. Sure it’s a magical boy fighting a being of projected light that’s a buff alien but it’s still hard to make a good fighting scene. Also I had no idea if Jasper really called Steven his own name besides mistaking him for Rose Quartz. I mean yea he is Rose but what did she ever call him? I don’t ever remember her calling him by his actual name. I didn’t want to repeat words like “weakling.” She knows that Steven is Steven now and knows Pink Diamond is in him from his MULTIPLE explanations but I don’t think she’s ever called him by his proper name.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thank you for your kind messages! Means a lot to me. As always, on to the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven warps himself away while the Gems try to form a plan for aid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHATTUP EVERYONE! Hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I guess I did. Gained weight tho. Hate that. Sorry if this chapter was bad, I had to take a little break from this to work on my other fic: That Damn Dame. I’m suuuper excited for it. I already have the next chapter typed up but it’s not finished. You guys will love it! If you haven’t, go give it a read!

Corrupted!

Chapter 11:

Warping away. 

Steven didn’t care where he was going as long as he was warping away.

Warping away. 

He hated to leave his family like this but he also didn’t want to be a danger to them. He didn’t want to be a burden to them so they can just come back and save him like always. 

The warp pad took him to a place that he felt was completely ironic. It was a place of ruins and broken hearts: his mother’s garden. Steven groaned when he looked at the once place of play from at the top of the stairs.

“Of course. Out of all the places in the world-no the galaxy, the warp pad takes me here. Way to go, warp pad, way to go,” he growled. “You take me to a place that belonged to my mother. You could’ve taken me to.. I dunno the strawberry fields or the kindergarten but no! You take me to a place that’s...” he stopped for a moment to take in his surroundings. 

Everything was quiet except for the soft wind blowing and rustle of dead flower petals. The communication stand was deserted and so was the fountain. The pillars crumbled alone and the plants deteriorated unattended. Then the realization struck him: nobody was here.

“A place that’s totally empty and quiet..”

Steven stepped off of the warp pad and started to go down the stairs to the garden. He didn’t want to be in a place that reminded him of his mother but he figured that it was probably better than going to any place he often went to. Garnet or Amethyst have never been here nor have they ever heard of it. If they did, they would’ve said something about it..well maybe. Pearl knew about this place since she knew who Spinel was but Steven doubted she would think of this place again.

He walked on over to the fountain that was in the center of the garden. There was still some water in the tub of it but it wasn’t cleaned from being abandoned for 6000 years. There was some algae growing and sat at the top of the water, making it very unsanitary. He wouldn’t dare take a drink even his throat was parched.

_I’m already corrupted..don’t wanna get sick._

Corruption. Steven Universe was corrupted. Now that was something he’d never believe. He looked at the water to check his reflection and then immediately regretted it.

The teen really did have long horns growing on the top of his head. They looked sharp, ready to pierce anything like a buck would to protect itself. He still had the fangs in his mouth but they grew, making both top and bottom poke out. His eyes looked like how they did in the bathroom earlier with the black sclera and pink diamond iris.

_Man, I can’t believe I really ignored that first sign. How stupid of me_.

Steven looked down to his hands which were now purplish-pink instead of his usual Caucasian skin. He ran a finger along the patch and felt rough scales in place of the smooth, slightly hairy epidermis layer. His fingernail was also sharp and black, almost looking like an alligators claw.

It was a little nice to know that there was a reason behind his actions and emotions. He knew he didn’t mean to be rude to Pearl. He knew that he didn’t really want to hurt Amethyst. He knew he didn’t know what he was doing when it came to controlling his emotions around Connie.

Steven wanted to lie to himself that he wasn’t going through corruption and that this was just puberty. It was a very strange version of puberty but it was strange because he wasn’t a full human and had a gem in his navel. But before he could lie to himself, he had to wonder how and why this was happening to him.

Was his gem malfunctioning? Was it cracked? He lifted his shirt to check and sure enough, the diamond in his belly button looked fully intact without a scratch. He couldn’t answer the question if it was malfunctioning..the warp pad did work for him and he remembered not being able to warp when he was hit by Spinel’s rejuvenator. 

_So how did this happen to me? Why am I becoming that monster in my dreams_?

Steven put a claw to his lips in thought and closed his eyes to think. He had to retrace his steps but not exactly physically at the moment. He started to map together everything that he had done in the past few days.

“First..I got donuts with Amethyst and no signs of corruption there. I searched dad’s storage unit and I wasn’t growing any horns. I sang my song..got a standing ovation but then the only negative view was....”

_Oh shit._

“Jasper.”

It all made sense now. She was the one that fused with him and before, she tried to fuse with that corrupted gem but got corrupted herself. It somehow passed down to him like some kind of virus but the effects were slow to show earlier signs. They were progressive and the end product was what he looked like now.

Steven may have found his answer but it didn’t give him any sort of comfort. The only feelings that were given to him were negative. Angry. Seething. Enraged. He wasn’t sure if he was more upset with Jasper or himself. Sure, the soldier caused this but his own actions were also to blame.

The teen started to growl at himself and paced around the fountain. “Of course.  **OF COURSE I FOUGHT WITH HER! IT ISN’T HER FAULT, ITS MINE! IF I IF IGNORED HER, I WOULDN’T LOOK LIKE THIS**!”

He stomped his way over to a pillar and clenched his fist. He swung it as hard as he could against the structure of marble, creating a very large crater in it, similar to the hole he made in his home but only bigger. 

It wasn’t enough.

Steven kept throwing punches at the pillar as if it was a punching bag at a gym but in his mind, he pictured it to be anyone he was upset with. First, the image of Jasper flashed in his mind. He slammed his fist in the area where her gem would be if he was actually hitting her. Then, he pictured himself punching himself. He pictured himself punching Pink Diamond. He pictured himself punching Rose Quartz. Anyone. 

Blow after blow, the pillar’s structure began to crumble against the force of the hybrid’s fist. Soon, it no longer looked like a column and was now only a pile of rocks and dust. Steven stood over the pile seething and breathing heavily, his fangs bared. 

“If I’m gonna be like this...I might as well stay here away from everyone. I don’t need their help. I can fix this on my own..” he said to himself, sitting back down against the fountain. If he was going to be staying here, he may as well make himself comfortable. 

“I can fix this I can fix this I can fix this I can fix this....”

* * *

Back in the beach house in Beach City, everyone that was a member of the Crystal Gems, including Connie, sat in the living room. Garnet stayed leaning against the wall, trying to keep her cool while Peridot, Lapis, Connie, and Bismuth sat on the couch. Pearl chose to pace around the room and Amethyst chose to look in the fridge to distract herself. There was no sign of Jasper.

Pearl was muttering incoherently while walking back and forth frantically. “Okay. This is bad this is bad this is bad THIS IS SO BAD!” She shouted. Everyone’s eyes watched as the tall gem babbled and paced, unsure of what to do. 

Garnet’s eyes, however, weren’t watching Pearl’s spiraling. They were instead searching the various possible futures that could happen. She scrunched her face slightly in fear when she saw bad endings which outnumbered the good endings. Many of them ended by Steven being unable to become normal or the Crystal Gems were poofed. 

All of these negative forthcomings were starting to make the fusion stressed. Garnet desperately wanted to find the best possible solution to help their Steven become the boy he once was. She desperately wanted to be the leader that the others saw her as. She was supposed to be the strongest Crystal Gem out of them, the one that knows what to do when times were dire. She was a fusion after all! Fusions were supposed to be stronger than a normal gem.

But then she remembered what Steven told her when they first took Cat Steven into their home. The young boy told her that they shouldn’t worry about all the things that could happen and should pick the thing they wanted to happen. 

The thing that Garnet wanted to happen-no, the thing that _they_ want to happen, is for Steven to be back here with them safe and sound. Actually Garnet wanted to stop Pearl from spiraling even further first.

And that is exactly what they were going to do. And she. 

Garnet got up from her leaning position against the wall and started to walk over to the babbling Pearl. The ex-servant was still pacing and was probably capable of making a track in the wooden floorboards from her feet. 

“We have to do something! We have to go find him! What if Steven gets worse? Or hurt?? What if-oof!”

Suddenly Pearl’s prattling was interrupted by Garnet’s large body, her pointed nose scrunching up against the fusion’s chest. She backed up to see the large gem looking back down at her with her classic “I’m the leader” look on her face. Pearl took the look that she had a plan. 

“Yes Garnet?” She said in a small voice, ready to listen. 

Garnet readjusted her glasses and rested a hand on Pearl’s shoulder. “First of all, you need to calm down, Pearl. Overreacting like this isn’t going to do you any good and you know this.”

Pearl’s face went from a listening one to one that looked slightly offended. She scoffed, “Overreacting? I’m not overreacting! This is just how I cope with things!” She gestured a hand to Amethyst, who shut the fridge door with a tall pile of frozen pizzas in her hands. “If anyone that has a bad coping strategy it’s Amethyst!” 

Amethyst rolled her eyes and shoved an uncooked pizza into her mouth. “Well sorrryy for not being so prim and perfect. Everyone has their own ways to deal with stress and yours isn’t so healthy.” 

Pearl was about to defend herself when Garnet made it clear that she had enough by slamming her foot down, creating a large booming sound and shook the house. Bismuth almost said a silent prayer that nothing broke from the stomp. Pearl and Amethyst both shut their traps, not wanting to feel Garnet’s wrath. Even the silent Lapis, Peridot and Connie made sure that their mouths were closed. 

“Alright, Gems, that’s enough. We can talk about managing stress some other time but for now, we gotta talk about how we need to manage Steven. I looked into the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”

Pearl spoke up, “How many of them did you see?”

“Fourteen million six hundred and five.”

There was a long pause. Everyone was trying to take in that statement. They all knew that was a very huge number.

Peridot was afraid to ask but someone had to. “And...how many did we succeed?” 

Garnet sighed and looked at Peridot intensely. She didn’t want to have to tell them but there was no other way. She held up a single finger to emphasize her answer. Everyone’s faces turned to shock, Pearl slightly gasped, Connie wanted to cry.

“One.”

Nobody spoke again after their question was answered. They all looked down towards the floor with solemn expressions with the same thought ringing in their head and it ran shivers down their spines.

Only one? Only one chance that we end up saving Steven?

Suddenly, Bismuth shot up from her seated position with her hands on her hips. Her solemn expression turned into one that was angry. 

“Alright that’s it! I’m done with being all mopey and sad. If Steven were here and one of us was corrupted, he wouldn’t be crying over spilled lava!” She exclaimed and turned to face the others. “Come on, Gems! This isn’t who we are. We’re the ones that saved Homeworld from collapsing on itself and the Earth from Spinel’s bioweapon!”

Lapis started to slowly stand up from seating. “What are you trying to say, Bismuth?”

The smith almost looked offended by her question but laughed. “What am I saying? I thought it was crystal clear! I’m saying that we shouldn’t be like this, get off our butts and go save Steven! If ya need me to sing that song again, I will.”

“Please don’t. I thought we were finished with musicals,” Amethyst groaned. “But I’m with you! Steven’s saved our asses so let’s go save his!” She stuck her hand out and looked to the others if they would join.

The atmosphere seemed to change instantly from Bismuth’s powerful words. One by one, each Crystal Gem and Connie stood up and stuck their hands out onto Amethyst’s, shaping a star instead of a circle. A proud smile was on every face.

Amethyst’s eyes shined with stars. She had an idea from watching football. “Okay I call it I gotta cheer! WHAT TIME IS IT!” She shouted, waiting for the others to join. Instead of receiving cheers, they looked at the purple gem in confusion. 

Pearl spoke up and pointed to the clock, “Um it is 12:30.” Amethyst face palmed.

“Ugh guyyyss you’re supposed to say ‘game time’ when I say what time is it! And then say whoo whoo whoo when I say ‘any gems in the house’. It’s supposed to look really cool!” She groaned in annoyance. “Try it again!”

The other gems looked at each other with their perplexed faces but then shrugged. They knew they didn’t have the time for this but maybe it would bring some pep to this time.

Amethyst tried to cheer again,”WHAT TIME IS IT!”

“Game time?”

“NO you’re supposed to cheer! WHAT TIME IS IT!”

“GAME TIME!”

“WHAT TIME IS IT!”

“GAME TIME!” This time, the gems and Connie started to get into it. They pumped their other hands in the air. 

“ANY GEMS IN THE HOUSE?”

They hooted in response. Amethyst was loving this.

“ALL THE GEMS IN THE HOUSE!” Then they hooted again. 

“AAAAAHHHHHH CRYSTAL GEMS!” With those last words, the hands in the middle were thrown into the hair and they all cheered. Moral was high but so were some doubts.

“Alright enough fooling around, Gems. Let’s get down to business-or I should say Bismuth.” Garnet said, adjusting her visor and smirking. “I didn’t say that the master of comedy shouldn’t joke but now I’m saying that we need a plan.”

Amethyst interjected, “that’s truebut maybe we should talk about how Steven got corrupted in the first place? Like how can a human even become corrupted?”

“Amethyst, he is half gem so it is possible. He did fuse with Jasper, who was corrupted before so that’s most likely what triggered it,” Said Garnet.

“But that doesn’t explain why it took so long for it to happen. For normal gems, it happens instantly like bam! They’re corrupted. I didn’t even notice anything on him!” Amethyst said, but then put a hand to her chin. “But then I did notice the teeth...and how he tackled me.”

“And how he talked so rudely to me..” Pearl added, looking to the floor. She was glad that there was a reason behind Steven’s mood but it still hurt to hear him yell. “Steven would’ve never talked like that to anyone, not even anyone we’ve fought.”

Everyone fell silent as they tried to absorb in what was just told. They all wanted to put the pieces together of this puzzle. The answer seemed to be right under their noses. Until Connie spoke up.

“You know..it’s funny..it all kind of reminds me how boys would go through this process called...uh..” Even though she was 16, talking about the process of pubescence still made her blush and speaking about it in front of others who were clueless was a bit worse. She didn’t even want to mention what happened earlier in Steven’s room. “It’s called puberty where a human grows up and matures. They go through changes and it’s not so quick like corruption. Maybe that plays a factor?”

The gems looked at Connie with perplexed faces. They were unfamiliar with this process, even Pearl, who read the most about it. Except for Peridot, her face showed that she was thinking.

“Your hypothesis does seem logical, Connie. We all can agree that could be a reason, but I, however, think otherwise,” She said, hopping up from the couch and stood on the table so everyone could see her small stature. “I believe that the reason why the corruption process for Steven was so slow because his body was trying to fight it. I’ve done some research of the human body on my tablet and I think that he was trying to fight it off.”

She levitated her tablet to show a diagram of the human body’s immune system. “Observe: the human body’s way to defend itself against things like diseases and infections. When an intruding bacteria particle comes in contact, these other things called white blood cells counteract them, thus resulting in the human to stay healthy.” 

Then Peridot flipped to a picture of Steven with poorly drawn horns and fangs. “BUT Steven is part gem! His human part must have tried to work against the corruption but failed to because of his gem half. He may have healing powers but maybe he couldn’t heal himself in time.”

This time, everyone had faces that were a little more understanding. Connie, however, was a little displeased that her theory was trumped by Peridot’s. She still nodded her head.

“Guess that does makes sense,” she said. “But that doesn’t exactly tell us what we should do next. Didn’t the Diamonds help out with that one corrupted gem at first...Nephrite? Maybe we should go to them!”

The room became even tenser than it was earlier. The gems froze when they heard the word ‘Diamond.’ Some looked down to the floor, others clenched their fists in silent anger. Pearl was the first to speak up. 

“That is correct, Connie. They did help her but...we can’t be so sure how they’d react to Steven. White Diamond could possibly shatter us for thinking that we didn’t take care of him!” She said. She was about to speak again when she felt Garnet’s hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up at the fusion and understood to let her speak.

“That may be possible, Pearl, but for the one outcome that we ended up winning was where we asked the Diamonds for help. They helped Nephrite before and they also lent a hand in the de-corruption of all of the other gems. This might be our best answer even though some of us still hold resentment.”

Pearl stood quiet for a moment, letting Garnet’s words sink in. She took a deep breath in and let it out. “Very well. Garnet, Amethyst, Connie and I can go to Homeworld. The rest of you will have to stay here in case Steven decides to come back.”

Peridot didn’t like that command very much. She lowered her tablet and clenched her fists. “I disagree, Pearl! I want to go and yell at those tyrannical clods! They deserve to hear my overpowering words!”

Amethyst chuckled. “Dude, I think that you are the last person Yellow Diamond wants to see since you called her a clod years back. Stay here while we handle them.”

Peridot grumbled and folded her arms. “Fine. But please call them clods for me. The satisfaction of hearing them feel embarrassed might help me cope with this dire situation.”

And with those last words, the Crystal Gems and Connie stepped onto the warp pad. They gave Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis one last look. The other three gave them a thumbs up in support and they gave one back.

“Good luck everyone,” Garnet said. The warm pad activated with a shing and the gems were enveloped in a column of light. Then they were gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Broooooo SUF got me messed up. I totally related to Steven in Little Graduation holy shit. I worry about people leaving me. I don’t want things to change and it’s hard when people are changing. Idk if I ever said this but I have Asperger’s. I’m on the highly functioning side so that means you don’t really see much in me like I don’t display clear signs of it. I do display obsession and sometimes regulation of emotions. One big thing is that I hate change. I don’t like when plans change and it’s hard to adjust. It’s hard for Steven to adjust and I totally get that. 
> 
> Another thing is that I kind of hope he doesn’t get corrupted. I feel so bad for Steven because this kid has been through so much he doesn’t deserve anymore hardships. No teen should go through that, fictional or not. I mean I love it for the angst, I love it for fuel for this fic but it would be hard to see. Steven deserves to go to therapy and deserves all the love. 
> 
> Well aight then. I hope you guys liked this chapter and it means so much to see notifications of kudos and comments. If anyone caught that infinity war reference I love you and you deserve a hug. Sorry for that stupid game chant thing, I was referencing what we usually did with my field hockey team in high school and I got nostalgic lmao. I kinda thought that Amethyst would be trying to hype the team up since she’s so energetic at times (can be lazy) 
> 
> I hope I made the characters stay in character. It’s hard to write about everyone since SU has a lot of gems with diverse personalities. I try to do my best and stay true to the show while keeping how I believe they would act. I also try to look things up so it’s accurate and I’m not spitting untrue facts. That’s what I’m doing for my Mafia fic, it’s so cool to look stuff up about the 20s cause I love it. I like history (wwII stuff is the shit)
> 
> Okay then onto the next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spinel now stays with the Diamonds, joking and playing her days away. But all of that fun comes to a halt when the Crystal Gems arrive with news and need of help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOOOOOD EVENING EVERYBODY! I’m so sorry for the long wait but I’ve been feeling a bit uninspired with this fic. I’ve had a plan down but never any motivation to write. I literally had to write myself a note on my whiteboard in my dorm to remind myself to finish. Please forgive me!
> 
> If it seems that I quote the show too much, I’m sorry. It’s just fun to use the lines!
> 
> NOTE: the next chapter might not be out for awhile and I’m so sorry. I have this other story I’ve been wanting to do honestly more than this one. This doesn’t mean I won’t finish this. Once I feel bad enough I will write more for this but I will be busy with schoolwork and my own life. Please understand. Thank you

Corrupted!

Chapter 12:

Spinel came to live with the Diamonds in the palace and, boy, was there room waiting for her! Today, right here, right now, she let the three women adore her and she adored them the same. Every day that she spent with them felt like a dream. They loved being with her and that made her feel extremely happy. 

Spinel would try to spend time with each Diamond equally but since they were still rulers, it was hard. White Diamond spent most of her days trying to make broadcasts to Homeworld or reach out to fellow colonies for some reason that the jester didn’t quite understand. Blue Diamond and Yellow were the ones that she spent more time with but it didn’t bother her. As long as she wasn’t feeling abandoned, Spinel was content.

When Blue was feeling down, Spinel would either cry with her since she felt the same pain or she would try many ways to cheer her up. But it wasn’t always easy to come up with unique ways to make the other empress happy. It was like stepping in a field of land mines. One false move would end up with Blue being in even more tears because she would be reminded of Pink.

Sometimes even the comedy business was no laughing matter but that was what Spinel was willing to put up with. As long as she felt like she was found, she will try her very best to make it stay that way.

Being with Blue Diamond was fun and all but with her emotions, it became a chore rather than just playing around. However, entertaining Yellow Diamond was Spinel’s favorite. Many gems would think that it would’ve been difficult to get through the military commander’s tough exterior (both physically and emotionally) but Spinel found ways to make this irascible tyrant laugh. Many other spinel’s in the past few thousand years have failed to make Yellow crack a smile but not for this particular gem.

However, there was always the feeling of not being good enough. She would try hard to push way the fog of insecurity and hate by convincing them that she was charming, clever and fun to have around. But Spinel would start to unravel (physically and mentally) because in her head she heard the gavel.

GUILTY! The Diamonds were gonna throw the book at her because she’s

GUILTY! Of coming in and wasting all their time.

GUILTY! Of almost every other showbiz crime.

She’s not perfect enough! Not funny enough! Not pretty enough! Not good enough! They may as well hereby sentence Spinel to a lifetime of waiting on gems and debilitating self loathing which was similar to a Pearl.

“Spinel?” Yellow Diamond’s impatient voice crashed Spinel’s out of control train of thought, stopping it from spiraling even more. “Can we hear a joke please? Sometime this century would be nice.” The pink gem looked over to see the military commander looking at her with a bored expression. She rested her elbow on the throne’s armrest and her head.

_Oh stars she’s asking to hear my voice. Maybe I could just make a lame attempt at humor, do I really have any choice?_

Spinel shook her head frantically side to side to get herself back into the game with razor sharp focus. She smiled nervously and formed her elastic arms into the diamond salute.

“Eheheh..y-yes of course, my diamond. Sorry..had my head in the clouds for a bit heh. Guess I’m such an  airhead !” Spinel said. She dramatically sucked in a lot of air. Then stuck a finger in her mouth and started to blow, causing her head to grow in size much like a balloon to emphasize her point. She looked over at Yellow to see if she reacted at all but the matriarch didn’t even crack a smile.

Spinel frowned as well but then a lightbulb formed above and lit up brightly like her smile. She pulled out a pin out of thin air to pop her head. The needle struck the side, making a hole form and the air started to blow out of it. Similar to a balloon again, her body flew off of the armrest and was sent on a flight around Yellow Diamond’s throne room. As well as making loud crashing sounds, Spinel made a high pitched squeaking noise as she deflated. She performed loops and dips as if she was a plane with a loss of control.

She collided against walls, pillars, floor, almost Yellow’s Pearl and ceiling. Thankfully, she didn’t break anything but she almost did hurt Yellow Pearl. Yellow Diamond’s eyes followed as she flew and felt like they were probably going to break from switching directions so much. The pink gem’s deflating slowed down until she reached above the throne’s arm rest and reformed her body back to its original form. She landed on one foot and both arms extended into a pose with a big smile.

“Well that let out some steam!” Spinel said and then blew out an extra cloud out of her mouth. She waited for a reaction out of Yellow Diamond by staying silent once again.

At first, the military commander was silent as she was trying to process what just happened. She’s had a long day of trying to write peace treaties and shutting down kindergartens so her mind was still running rampant. Soon a smile formed on her yellow lips. Yellow giggled slightly and moved a giant finger to rub the top of Spinel’s head, ruffling her pink hair.

“That was a good one, Spinel. Very good,” she said. “I liked the flips that you did.”

A blush quickly filled Spinel’s cheeks and a modest smile did as well. “Aw shucks! Anything for you, Yellow, anything!”

Yellow Diamond smiled again at her and continued to nuzzle her finger on Spinel’s magenta hair. She didn’t say anything else to her and something felt off. The harlequin was no mind reader but since she was made to make others happy, she could tell whenever something didn’t feel right with a gem. She extended her arms to stretch to one of the military commander’s shoulder pads and grabbed on, then letting her body follow with it to land.

Spinel wrapped her arm around Yellow’s shoulders to try to comfort her. She wasn’t sure if this would work but she knew her jokes didn’t.

“What’s the matter, my Diamond? Are you bored of my jokes? I mean..I can stop if you want me to..” she said, her pigtails drooping. “I’ve probably wasted your time..”

This made Yellow snap out of her bored trance and her eyes slightly widened. She looked to her shoulder to see Spinel’s limbs now unraveled and her head hung low.

“Spinel! You are not wasting my time at all. I’d rather be here with you than those pesky high ranked gems, even White herself. I could never be bored of your jokes,” she said, which made Spinel’s head perk up.

“Then...why do you seem so sad?”

The military commander sighed and placed a hand to her temple, closing her eyes. “It feels like it’s been a long light year, my dear, when it’s only been two earth years..as Steven told me. I know that liberating colonies is the best thing for our new era but...it’s exhausting. It was so much easier to send troops to whatever place and control whatever I pleased.

Even though gems don’t age and the diamonds were supposed to be perfect cuts, Spinel could tell that all of this busy work was taking a toll on Yellow and she truly looked like she aged 10 years. She knew that she couldn’t relate to her since she wasn’t a ruler but all she could do was rub the empress’s shoulder.

“Well..just think that it’s doing the planet some good! Change takes time. Isn’t that what Steven would want?” Spinel became a little quiet and hesitated. It hurt her the same but she had to say it. 

“Isn’t...isn’t that what Pink would’ve wanted?”

Yellow Diamond’s eyes opened right away when Spinel finished the sentence and shot over to glare at her. She wanted to yell at the jester to not speak of the late Diamond again but she stopped herself. This was not the time to control others. They don’t do much of the sort anymore. This was Era Three.

Not Two. 

Not one. 

It was Three. It was time to make a change. 

Yellow held back the anger that wanted to rise up and burst out of her like a geyser. She sighed and smiled softly. 

“Yes...I suppose she would, Spinel. Thank you.” 

Spinel smiled back and retracted her arm, putting them by her sides. She sat down on Yellow Diamond’s shoulder, letting her boots hang over the edge and slowly swung them. She didn’t make any more jokes but rather stayed to keep the Diamond company. 

The two stayed quiet for a moment, simply enjoying the presence of each other. Yellow continued to rub Spinel’s hair with a finger, being careful not to squish and poof her. It felt nice just to sit down for once and live in the moment. The harlequin was always up for mischief and fun since that was her sole purpose but having her head stroked like this was...nice. She’s never been touched like this before. 

_Pink never did this to me.._.

The petting went on for a little while longer until suddenly the throne room’s doors opened with a loud slam, causing both the harlequin and military commander to jump in surprise. It was surprising to see that Yellow Diamond’s Pearl was the one holding both of them open since she had such a small stature while the doors were big enough for even White Diamond to fit through. The servant had a very frazzled look on her face, almost as if she wrestled a pack of wolves- or maybe robonoids in a gem’s case. 

“P-Pearl? What is the meaning of this-“

“IM SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOU MY DIAMOND!” She squawked across the room and quickly formed the Diamond salute with her arms. She blushed as she realized that she was yelling and stopped herself from yelling anymore. 

“Ahem...forgive me, My Diamond, for interrupting but we have unannounced guests that arrived!” 

Yellow raised an eyebrow at her Pearl and shifted in her throne to make herself seem bigger and attentive. 

“Bring them in at once.”

Yellow Pearl nodded her head and kept saluting. “Y-yes, my Diamond-“

“Enough with the formalities, Pearl! Just get the guests!” The empress also realized she was yelling, forgetting that everyone here was now equal life forms. “Please...” 

The servant nodded again and quickly sped out of the room, leaving a comical cloud of dust in her form. The room was silent for a moment until Spinel spoke. She looked to the side as if there was a hidden camera beside her and pointed in the direction of the doors. 

“Well that was strange, amiright folks?”

“Spinel, who are you speaking to? There’s no one else except us?” Yellow asked.

The joker was about to reply when Yellow Pearl barged back in but with the Crystal Gems, Connie, and Blue Diamond in tow. They all had anxious faces on and all looked eager to tell. This time, Yellow Diamond stood up from her throne and clenched a fist. She noticed there was a lack of teenage boy with them.

“What is the meaning of this? Blue? Where’s Steven?”

Blue Diamond opened her mouth to speak but was at lost for words. The Crystal Gems had told her first and decided to pass the news here. She was still feeling the shock of what she heard and was about to cry but stopped herself from using her powers.

“I...Yellow...”

“Well? Don’t just stutter!”

Blue put a hand to her quivering lip to hold back the tears. She took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check.

“It’s Steven.” 

The military commander’s eyes widened and her fist shook. She looked toward Spinel, who was still on her shoulder. Her eyes also have grown in size and her pupils shrunk.

“What do you mean ‘it’s Steven’? Where is he?” Yellow asked again.

Blue couldn’t hold her tears back any longer. She let out a cry that was full of sorrow and disbelief. It sent a blue wave across the room, making every gem to also tear up. Yellow tried to wipe hers away but they kept coming.

“Blue, would you please stop using your powers on us and explain what in the stars is going on. These tears aren’t going to get us anywhere.”

The crying empress sniffled and then nodded her head. With a wave of her hand, the blue hue dissipated and so did the tears. Everyone, excluding Connie, got themselves composed once again by wiping the stream from their cheeks.

The human girl started to walk towards Yellow’s throne since she was never affected by Blue’s power. Yellow watched her as she came with concerned eyes. Connie held her hands together and rubbed them nervously. She didn’t want to be the one to tell the one empress, it hurt her to the core but she knew Blue Diamond wouldn’t be able to hold herself together. She couldn’t blame her for being emotional. Connie looked back to the Crystal Gems, who looked in no shape to explain from their crying.

She was surprised that she didn’t break down crying yet.

“Miss...uh...” Connie wasn’t sure how to even address a Diamond. Was she supposed to bow or salute to her like the other gems did? “Yellow Diamond, I know I’m probably the last person you would want to hear news like this from but Steven really needs your help. He recently got into a fight with Jasper and...things didn’t go so well.”

First of all, Yellow Diamond couldn’t believe that she was listening to a  human of all life forms. More specifically, a human that was part of the  _Crystal Gems_ , aka the group that Steven chose to run around with, were part of the reason why Homeworld changed, and were by Pink’s side. It was all a really strange ordeal but if it managed to get Blue worked up...wait she cried at anything (me too Blue)...the military commander had no choice but to listen.

However, there was one slight flaw in what the human said to her and she had to point it out.

“Which Jasper are you talking about? There’s about a million that emerged centuries ago so you will have to elaborate.”

Connie thought she was on a roll with talking to an empress but with that question, she drew a blank. She remembered Steven saying that there were millions of gems so she couldn’t just say “Jasper” and expect her to know which one she was talking about. The girl paused for a moment but then found her answer, praying that it was the best.

“This Jasper was the one you sent to Earth a few years ago with a Peridot and Lapis Lazuli. I believe that it was...failed? Steven and the Crystal Gems stopped her?” She said, pausing to see if Yellow was following. The gem didn’t say anything else or make any confused faces so that gave the clue to keep going.

“Well...she came back after being missing for a bit and was around for the changes to Homeworld and Beach City. She didn’t exactly agree with Steven’s new image of Era Three and attacked him. She tried to fuse with him but it didn’t work. If you didn’t know before, she was corrupted...”

Connie’s words started to trail off as she watched Yellow Diamond’s expression turn from one of listening to one that was in shock. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw slightly hung agape. Even Spinel, who was still on a shoulder, had the same expression. The girl didn’t need any other clue that what was told was understood.

Yellow Diamond couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She understood why Blue became so emotional and used her powers. She understood why the Crystal Gems and this human looked so distraught. But she couldn’t understand why this had to happen to Steven.  To _Pink_.

She quickly brushed the tears that weren’t from Blue but still dared to form in her eyes. She had to look strong. She had to be strong. For everyone. For him. For her.

“Does White know about this?” She asked, trying to hide her emotions.

Connie looked at Blue Diamond and then the Gems. They shook their heads.

“No, ma’am. None of us were sure of what she would do,” she answered.

“I would say it was a smart decision but without White’s powers, we cannot heal Steven. We have no choice but to tell her.”

The Crystal Gems started to feel uneasy with this. They didn’t want to bring the overpowering Gem into this but realized they really had no other option. However, Amethyst spoke up in an annoyed tone.

“Man, this is totally whack! Why do we have to bring that...that..  she-demon into this? What if she says that we have to make him stay here without us? We can’t lose Steven!” She said, clenching her fists.

For a little while, Pearl has been trying to not yell at Amethyst as much as she used to but now was probably a good time to bring it back. She turned to give her an angry look and reprimand her.

“Amethyst! You can’t call White that!” She really shouldn’t have, especially with two other Diamonds in the room that had the potential to shatter them on the spot. But Pearl knew that Amethyst was right: they can’t lose him. 

“We need her power and the other Diamond’s to help him. If we have to let him stay here in order for him to be himself again...then that’s a price we will have to pay.”

This time, Amethyst stayed quiet. She couldn’t argue with that. 

“Well since we got that figured out, where the heck is he?” She pointed out the obvious. 

“He would have to still be on Earth. There is no way that he could have come here,” Garnet said. She paused for a moment, trying to tap into one of the streams of her future vision. There had to be a path that would lead them to where Steven was. She looked up to Yellow Diamond’s shoulder where Spinel still sat. The harlequin had stayed silent throughout this whole meeting.

“Spinel.” The pink gem turned to where Garnet’s voice was heard. 

“Y-yes?” She said.

The fusion brought a hand to her face and took off her visor, revealing her three eyes. They each looked back with intensity. 

“I’m truly sorry but you’re going to have to go back to the garden. He’s there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wanted to have Spinel and Yellow interact in this. Ever since the diamond laughed at her handstand, I knew I had to make an adorable chapter with them together. Yellow has such a tough exterior but can’t help herself when it comes to Spinel. She’s probably my favorite Diamond. 
> 
> I’m really sorry if this chapter was bad at all. I’m also really sorry if anyone is out of character I tried hard to be close to what they’re like in the show. I’ve been trying to write this and That Damn Dame at the same time which probably isn’t good for my sanity. If you haven’t read that fic, PLEASE GO READ IT I ASSURE YOU ITS AWESOME I PUT SO MUCH EFFORT AND PASSION INTO IT. 
> 
> I’ve had the idea of Spinel going to the garden and trying to calm him down ever since I saw some comic or fan art of it somewhere. Basically Steven’s dream from earlier was somewhat foreshadowing (we love how SU has tons of that don’t we) but don’t worry I don’t think I plan for her to get poofed from him.
> 
> Thank you for everyone that still gives me kudos and love. It means so much to me that people are enjoying what I write. Don’t worry I haven’t given up on this story yet. When I have something to do, I always get it done (most of the time). 
> 
> Also if anyone caught that What’s Gonna Happen reference I LOVE YOU. THAT SONG IS AMAZINGGGGG
> 
> Alright enough of me yappin  
Onto the next chapter!


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